IPL 2022 Rajasthan Royals Preview: Death overs batting and bowling is a worry

SQUAD

Sanju Samson (c), Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy, Anunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, Jimmy Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell

Players’ Availability

Availability of the players is not an issue for them. Everyone is available. But if they manage to qualify for the playoffs, Trent Boult and Daryl Mitchell may not be available as New Zealand are set to tour England for three Tests in early June.

Batting

The question they face upfront is whether they should open with Yashasvi Jaiswal, who was one of the players they retained ahead of the mega auction, or Devdutt Padikkal, on whom they spent Rs 7.75 crore at the auction. Both are left-handers. Most likely Padikkal will be asked to bat at No. 3 and Jaiswal will partner the explosive Jos Buttler. With captain Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer to come next, they have a power-packed top and middle order. No. 6 and 7 are their weak spot. Both Riyan Parag and Jimmy Neesham have been inconsistent and will need to come good to help their side go from good to strong.

They have options on the bench if they need reinforcement. Rassie van der Dussen, who has been in sublime form in limited-overs cricket lately, and Karun Nair are two experienced back-ups for the middle-order. Daryl Mitchell is a back-up for Buttler.

Bowling

Royals have put together a strong Indian bowling group. The key new additions are, of course, Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal. Royals lacked quality spin options for several seasons and the arrival of these two will help them keep the opposition in check and take crucial wickets in the middle overs. However, they don’t have any other good spinner in the reserves in case a replacement is required.

In the pace department,Prasidh Krishna and Navdeep Saini are the two Indian options with experience. Krishna is likely to play ahead of Saini and share the new ball responsibilities with the brilliant Trent Boult. Nathan Coulter-Nile is a back-up option for Boult and a like-for-like replacement for Neesham. He can provide pace and control — two important factors in death overs bowling, which is a worry for them. With the best death bowlers in T20s, Lasith Malinga as their fast-bowling coach, one can expect a better strategy and its implementation in the matches.

Potential Playing XI

1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Devdutt Padikkal, 4 Sanju Samson (capt, wk), 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 James Neesham/Nathan Coulter-Nile, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Yuzvendra Chahal, 10 Trent Boult, 11 Prasidh Krishna