It was a great campaign start for Rajasthan Royals and what a great match it was but it wasn’t a day for debutants. Ruturaj Gaikwad got out golden duck and that also with an easy stumping whereas Yashasvi Jaiswal got one boundary an then a lousy shot resulted in an easy catch out.
Sharjah hardly ever disappoints and it didn’t this time either. The short boundaries had a big role to play and even the patch was great for playing cricket.
RAJASTHAN ROYALS
The Rajasthan Royals had a Royal start with royal boundaries and royal skills. The batting performance was splendid, even though the big stars were missing. They did face hiccups at the beginning and had a very bad start to the match and also lost a wicket in a lousy manner but the way they picked it up after that was fascinating.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was debuting in the IPL and he was sent to open which is not that wise a decision. He is playing after a long time, has the pressure of being a debutant and adding the pressure of being the opener in such a crucial match with two big – hitters missing is not what should be preferred but his wicket worked thigs out for Rajasthan Royals this time around.
Steve Smith was working his play for the day but Sanju Samson was on a mission and the CSK bowlers were assisting him. Piyush Chawla and Jadeja were bowling just in the zone where Samson wanted them to bowl to him. The zone wherein he was easily able to read and pick the spin of the ball without having to move much and was getting time to get ready and read the ball and play it into the short boundaries and using his power.
Even after the wicket fell, Rajasthan Royals were able to keep up the momentum from time to time and their partnerships and deep batting unit helped them perform the death overs slaughter. Jofra Archer was all into power hitting and Ngidi was just giving him the opportunity to do so. he gave 4 straight sixers but the come back by Ngidi was good and Curran and Archer weren’t able to play those last balls that well.
There batting unit will only become stronger as the get their additions of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler pretty soon. They have good partnerships and understanding between the players and that is powering their power hitting but they may face problems on other grounds in UAE which have very large boundaries and way larger relative and in comparison to the one in Sharjah.
Their bowling was pretty formidable as they were also relieved of that pressure of having a very low score. Their bowling line up has a good balance and their spinners are insane and will come into play all throughout the season. The class of their wrist spinners is pretty high and this will help them stay in the game and even maybe qualify for the playoffs. Tewatia is very interesting for he spins the ball very consistently and bowls like a very very experienced spinner. Chahal vs Tewatia – an interesting match to witness.
Their death over bowling was also good as Jofra Archer was the royal royal for their royal bowling as Tom Curran fell under pressure of the talet on the crease.
THE DHONI QUESTION – CHENNAI SUPER KINGS
Should Dhoni have come earlier in the match to bat?
It is a very tough question to answer but the verdict over here based on analysis of data, statistics and the situation of the match is that Probably NO. Let us face facts. Dhoni isn’t there for coming before the 10th over. He is not in the form and mindset and he doesn’t play half of the innings. His statistics against spinners, especially leg – spinners isn’t that favourable to him or his team and the mid – overs are the overs for which CSK have Sam Curran, Kedar Jadhav and Dwayne Bravo; who are to be followed by Jadeja and then M.S. Dhoni. If a player like Dhoni comes at 3, he may face problems and issues settling into this very difficult position which is the most complex position for anyone to work out.
In context of the RR vs CSK match, the leg spinners were performing great and they still had a bunch of over left. Sam Curran came and performed the exact job he was supposed but yes, he did get out a little earlier than he should have. CSK had some quick fall of wickets and that isn’t when M.S. Dhoni comes down. The spinners for RR were performing well by utilising the full capacity of the pitch and their fielding was strong.
Dhoni will also take a little time to get going not only because he hasn’t played a proper match for over a year but also because he has aged a lot. To this many have to say that, then he should come earlier to settle down. Dhoni on the crease means one spot booked and that might compromise the situation because Dhoni is a player who will get going, just like he did in the last over, but if he takes time that may increase the pressure on the other batsmen and hence, other partnerships which would create fast movement needed to be experimented with.
Dhoni, when on the crease, sis struggle against not only spin but also Jofra Archer and then his running between the wickets wasn’t the fastest. It is all an experiment and probably Jadeja before Dhoni might also have been a viable option which would have been debated inside the team till the end for sure.
The one option they had was that after seeing Jadhav’s performance, they could have had him et out or the team an over earlier. And to them who might be thinking that Dhoni should have done what he did in the 20th over before that, then the answer to them is that he couldn’t have.
FUN BONUS: Faf Du Plessis’s six at the 14.5 over mark went into the dustbin literally. That is precision.
|IT IS A LONG SEASON LEFT|
|ALL THE BEST TO ALL THE TEAMS AND PLAYERS
spielens 