FIRST LOOK: RAJASTHAN ROYALS

Rajasthan Royals seem to have entered IPL with intentions of throwing up a surprise in every edition. First they chose a team with no star cricketers except Graeme Smith and Shane Warne (Watson and Pathan were relatively unknown then). Then they go for a captain-cum-coach system. And then they actually had the temerity to go against popular opinion and win the trophy. In the second edition too, they made almost similar decisions, except winning the trophy part. But even then they had people supporting other teams rooting for them at times. Simply put, they have been the ‘Rocky’ of IPL. They again shocked everyone this year by selecting Damien Martyn and Michael Lumb ahead of all the available accomplished cricketers.

Whether they can enthrall us again in home conditions remains to be seen. In the mean time let’s have a look at what we can expect from them this season.

Batting

Much has been said about the lack of quality batsman in the RR team. But the fact remains that all the quality batsmen that they have are foreign recruits. This means, courtesy the four foreign players per team rule, Rajasthan can pick at the most two non-Indian batsmen in their team because the other two places will be taken up by Warne himself, and one another bowler or an all-rounder. This was one of the major factors in Rajasthan’s inability to make it to the semis last season. Graeme Smith was out of form and the team was missing the services of Kamran Akmal and Shane Watson. This put the pressure squarely on the broad shoulders of Yusuf Pathan. He did well, but not well enough for the team to go past the league stage. Ravindra Jadeja impressed in patches, but he’s a supporting actor who needs a main character whom he can play the side-kick to. Dimitri Mascerenhas disappointed with the bat. Swapnil Asnodkar, who had a great first edition, looked a shadow of himself. Naman Ojha impressed with his pyrotechnics occasionally. Abhishek Raut and Shane Warne pitched in with a few runs here and there. But all in all, Rajasthan really missed a good top order batsman, and they would have done well to purchase an Indian player in this auction rather than going for Damien Martyn and Michael Lumb, another surprising selection. True Lumb has an impressive record in the counties, but playing in the sub-continent will be an entire different matter. Martyn is good at e and playing the odd big hit, but he is still not suited for T20. All these random out-of-the-blue selections mean that Rajasthan will once again depend heavily on Graeme Smith and Yusuf Pathan. The last two new additions, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala (who is returning from ICL) and Adam Voges, have done well in this format, and should add a bit more depth to the batting. Other fringe players like Faiz Fazal and Syed Quadri may get a look-in on the rare occasion. But all said and done, the Royals will depend quite heavily on their bowlers to deliver the goods for them.

Bowling

Shane Warne has managed to achieve what Dhoni and Rahul Dravid could not; get Munaf Patel to do more than just run up to the wickets and bowl. Indeed, the Munaf Patel that we see in the Rajasthan Royals is quite in contrast to the Munaf that we see in the Indian team. He fields like a maniac, is actually proactive on the field, and actually keeps his nerve to bowl brilliantly in the death overs. Perhaps the Indian team management needs to take a few pointers from Warne. In fact, it is this transformation of Munaf Patel that has been a big advantage for Rajasthan. Because he is a very under-rated bowler, and can be a very effective stock bowler. Like their batting, Rajasthan are going to struggle putting up a decent bowling attack too; but for very different reasons. They have Shaun Tait, who has performed very well for Australia in T20 cricket recently and would hoping that he can use IPL as a launch pad to get into the thick of things in Australian cricket; much like his compatriot Shane Watson did in IPL 1. Rajasthan will also pick up Morne Morkel this season, since he could prove to be handful given his current form. His height helps him generate that extra boune from the wicket and he is quick too. His good performance in the recently concluded India – South Africa series will do his confidence wonders. So we will probably see Rajasthan juggling Tait and Morkel so that both will get enough rest. The other foreign recruit in the team is Johann Botha who, with his fastish off-spin, can tie down the batsman. But the presence of Yusuf Pathan may mean that he will get limited opportunities. Mascerenhas will be another bowler they may call upon provided he is batting well, because Mascerenhas as a bowler is of very little value to them. They have better foreign recruits to take his place as a bowler. Among the Indian recruits, Munaf will be supported by Kamran Khan, Siddharth Trivedi, Amit Singh, and Abhishek Raut. Trivedi has already become a regular fixture in the Royals’ team, but Amit Singh and Abhishek Raut have the opportunity to do so. Amit performed well in the limited opportunities that he got last season by not only picking up wickets but also bowling very economically. Kamran Khan was the star sensation of last edition when Warne unveiled him as a raw tear-away who could consistently bowl over 140 kmph. Along with Morkel and Tait, Kamran may cause some serious problems with his pace. His only concern will be fitness as his slingy action puts a lot of stress on his body. And last but not the least, the key to Rajasthan’s performance in the middle overs will be held by the captain himself: Shane Warne. He’s handled the tremendous workload of captaincy and bowling quite well. He’s their highest overall wicket taker in both the tournaments so far. The biggest question here is whether he will be fit enough for the tournament. If he is, then we may see some magic once more. Overall, Rajasthan’s bowling certainly looks good and will play a crucial part in their campaign.

Fielding

Rajasthan have a good fielding unit and the bowlers can bank upon their fielders to save some valuable runs for them. Munaf Patel may be a bit suspect in the field, but as I mentioned earlier, somehow under Warne he looks an entirely different man. And no one knows more than Warne the importance of fielding since he himself had excellent fielder in the slips when he was bowling for Australia.

Final Verdict

Like the first edition of IPL, the Royals are certainly not the favorites to win, but as before, don’t be surprised if the wizard of Oz conjures up some new magic to enthrall us all. No one emphasizes the importance of having a good captain in T20 cricket more than Warne.

While it is true that Smith, Tait, Pathan, and Morkel will play an important part in this campaign, but key to Rajasthan’s success will lie inside the cranium of a certain Shane Warne.

Rajasthan Royals’ squad

Graeme Smith	Damien Martyn
Swapnil Asnodkar	Michael Lumb
Naman Ojha	Amit Paunikar
Abhishek Jhunjhunwala	Johann Botha
Yusuf Pathan	Kamran Khan
Dimitri Mascerenhas	Faiz Fazal
Abhishek Raut	Sumit Narwal
Shane Warne	Amit Singh
Shaun Tait	Srikanth Wagh
Siddharth Trivedi	Syed Quadri
Munaf Patel
Morne Morkel