IPL 2020 was a year to forget for the Rajasthan Royals as they finished bottom of the table. Here we preview how their actions during the 2021 close season, including breaking the record for the most expense player at auction and the sacking of a 2nd captain in as many years might influence their chances this year.
The biggest criticism of Rajasthan’s batting line-up over the last few seasons is that they’ve been very top heavy. It’s no suprise that in the T20 game the vast majority of batsmen want to bat in the top 3 where the powerplay and opportunities to face more deliveries make run scoring that much easier. However, that needs to be offset by a middle and lower order than can accelerate at the back end of an innings too. It’s difficult to remember the last team to win the IPL who didn’t have that balance.
With the departure of the likes of Steve Smith, Rahul Tripathi and Ajinke Rahane over the last couple of seasons you could actually now argue that Rajasthan have gone in the opposite direction and their top-order options for IPL 2021 are limited.
The big blow and a story that is breaking as I type this article is the likely loss of Jofra Archer who has been asked by the ECB to return home to receive treatment on an elbow injury that has troubled him over the past 12months. Archer was the MVP in last year’s IPL and losing him will be a massive blow to Rajasthan’s hopes of a playoff place in IPL 2021.
Experienced pros like Unadkat, Morris and Tye will need to step-up to fill the void left until Archer hopefully returns. Can RR still be in the hunt when their star man becomes available?