RR vs LSG, IPL 2022: Rajasthan’s bowling saves the day again, but Royals’ batting needs to buck up-Opinion News , Firstpost

Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson haven’t been able to score big runs so far in this IPL 2022. Sportzpics

Cricket can be a weirdly balanced game. Jos Buttler, the man who has lit up the 2022 Indian Premier League, isn’t firing for the last four innings. He hasn’t crossed 30 since his last half-century a fortnight ago and has totalled 61 runs in four outings since. Take this patchy run back another six days, and Buttler has one half-century in his last six innings for Rajasthan.

Then, there is KL Rahul, who is ardently playing catch-up to Buttler and trying his best to make the Orange Cap race a two-horse one. With the Rajasthan man failing to ignite, Rahul had his chance to make up the difference, but he has scored 18 runs in his last three innings. Stretch it to his last five innings, and that’s one half-century scored – the difference between Buttler and Rahul stays at 158 runs with 13 matches done in IPL 2022.

This imbalance in form meant the Lucknow-Rajasthan clash on Sunday night hinged on two factors – first, whether Rahul-Buttler would find their big-hitting form again and if not, which other batsman could stand up for their respective sides. And two, given the two sides’ dependency on Rahul-Buttler, would this important contest instead then turn into a battle between the two bowling attacks?

Avesh Khan provided the answer when he cleaned up Buttler for just two runs. Rajasthan’s batting needed to dig deep and reach a safe total through some other means. Time and again, Rajasthan have used R Ashwin as a pinch-hitter to elongate their batting line-up, so as to not expose its middle order and finishers too early. Even so, if you have to depend on the latter for runs and protection at this business end of the season, something is grossly wrong. In that light, it was heartening to see Sanju Samson walk out to bat at number three and not Ashwin.

But Samson isn’t really a pure batsman anymore. In a World Cup season wherein he should have concentrated hard on getting a mountain of runs on the board, Samson is averaging 29.91 thus far for a total of 359 runs in 13 innings. It is much the same return as any other season – except he is also a leader now and there seems to be an inane focus (or distraction even) to lead Rajasthan than to just concentrate on getting a ticket to Australia.

Rajasthan’s big problem then is that no one has really stepped up to match what has been an otherwise stellar season for Buttler. Samson’s tally and Devdutt Padikkal’s 334 runs are just a tad over half the number of runs Buttler has scored (314). It is no wonder the Royals have lost three of their last six games, coinciding with the downturn in Buttler’s form. So much so, that their bowling attack has been needed to come to the fore to prop them up the table at this crucial time.

This dependency factor can be seen in the bowling charts as well. Yuzvendra Chahal has been ever-leading the Purple Cap race, sitting pretty with 24 wickets from 13 games. His returns lately have been pale too, in comparison with the first half of the season. Before picking 3-28 against Punjab Kings, he had managed only two wickets in four games. He has also picked two wickets in two games since.

But there is a keen differentiation from batting to bowling for Rajasthan Royals. While its batting options haven’t really stood up and supported Buttler as much as the franchise would have liked, the bowling attack has been at the forefront and hunted like a pack. Together, Ashwin, Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna have accounted for 37 other wickets.

It also goes to show why Rajasthan’s bowling ranks among the better attacks in the tournament. Along with Lucknow, the Royals are the only other side to have four bowlers with 10-plus wickets in the Purple Cap column, with Chahal leading the way of course. Add to it Kuldeep Sen’s quick ascendancy, and you get a very balanced bowling attack, arguably the best on display this season.

As it turned out on Sunday night then, Rajasthan’s attack had to dig deep and do one better than Lucknow’s. At 101-3 in 11.2 overs, it was tough to surmise that Rajasthan would get 170-plus, especially in Hetmyer’s absence. But they did and this is where the game turned. Ashwin-Boult scored 26 runs off the last 14 deliveries, and in all, the Royals got 41 runs off the last four overs to reach a par total at Brabourne.

This resulting momentum further propelled Rajasthan in the powerplay overs. Boult came out all guns blazing and accounted for both Quinton de Kock and Ayush Badoni. For one, it was surprising to see Deepak Hooda drop down to number four, but it turned out to be a counter against Boult. They were trying to shield Hooda but ended up sacrificing the inexperienced Badoni against a top-class pacer. And when Krishna accounted for Rahul, the writing was pretty much on the wall at 29-3 in 5.4 overs.

Depending on how Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals play out their remaining games (they face each other on Monday), 16 points should be good enough for Rajasthan to qualify for the knockouts. Even so, there is another game against Chennai Super Kings to go. That, however, is more an opportunity to get their batting act together and not rely solely on bowling to bail them out at the business end of this IPL.

Winning the Orange and Purple Caps is good yes, but nobody really cares after a point, if you don’t take home the big prize. It is time for Rajasthan to realize this.

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