IPL 2019 | Rajasthan Royals - SWOT Analysis

03/18/2019

Sportscafe

They may not have strong brand value, but Rajasthan Royals are of those teams who have always punched above their weight and made sure that they give sleepless nights to the giants. While that is all good, the team has often failed to counter the challenges in the second half of the league.

Rajasthan has often had the tendency of going bonkers behind a few players and then ended up buying some domestic cricketers to form their core. Whether it is a successful winning strategy is yet to be known, but the franchise has ended up creating some players who went on to be stars for the Indian team. It has been the belief in their core group of players which has given a different meaning to the T20 league. However, after that first-year heroics under the captaincy of Shane Warne, arguably one of the finest thinkers in the game, Rajasthan have failed to give a good account of themselves by ending up in the “neither here, not there” region.

Last year, after Sanju Samson faltered away despite starting the season as one of the orange cap contenders, Jos Buttler notched up five consecutive fifties from the opening slot and almost single-handedly guided them through the final part of the league stage. Once the franchise lost Buttler to international duty, other players couldn’t gather themselves to set the stage on fire.

The Royals were also hindered by the fact that their two leg spinners - Shreyas Gopal and Ish Sodhi - never came together as was needed for the team despite having some matches of individual brilliance. Small smart acquisition this year has resulted in the team having the luxury of relying on the same old formula, but if they can sustain it for long would be the question that will define their campaign.

Strengths

One of the reasons Royals have never been counted off in any season if due to their strong core of Indian players, who more often than not, have delivered as per the team’s expectations. The likes of Sanju Samson, K Gowtham, and Manan Vohra have impressed in the previous seasons of the IPL, and that will add more value to the set-up, especially because of the fact that they have Jos Buttler and Steve Smith at the top. The return of Smith is a thing to look forward to for the franchise, which not only added some firepower to the batting line-up, but can also lift the morale of the team.

However, the team’s greatest strength has to be the presence of Jos Buttler, who has not only dominated the limited-overs cricket in the last one year but also proved to be the missing link in England’s line-up. While he will leave the tournament mid-way, his presence in the first part will be heavily helping the side. Cohesion in a T20 match has always been touted as one of the finest things to carry within the unit and Rajasthan are well sorted in that count. With Gowtham and Gopal, they have two fine spinners to turn around the fortunes and that’s why the combination is going to be lethal for the franchise in the 12th edition of the tournament. Jofra Archer has been going good in the English domestic cricket, and if he can be able to pull off the same act this year, the Royals will be better placed.

Weaknesses

Sometimes, someone’s strength becomes their weaknesses and for Rajasthan Royals, it is the most feared factor. When Jos Buttler left the campaign mid-way last year due to his international duty, the Royals were left like a scrambled team, having no clue about how to approach the team ideology. That is the problem of forming a team around a single member and in case, Steve Smith failed in his pursuit of doing what the Royals are expecting him to do, given the fact that he is returning after a long-break and injury, it could turn out to be a disaster. Does Rajasthan have a back-up plan in place to tackle such a scenario?

How much value can Ajinkya Rahane add is something that remains to be seen. Rahane was of course at the helm of so many memorable moments in Royals’ history, but he has failed to deliver with the bat in the last one year. Having him up top may bring more troubles than solutions for the team due to the simple fact that he took so many deliveries to get going and displayed an outdated T20 batting method of preserving wickets, which cost the Jaipur-based franchise dear.

Opportunities

Some smart buys in the auction last year meant the team had some quality all-rounders in the team, who despite not having the brand value of an Andre Russell or Chris Morris, have done well in the past to merit automatic selection. The Karnataka duo of Shreyas Gopal and K Gowtham was every bit impressive in the last edition and the franchise should cash in on that. If Ben Stokes can perform to his level best, which he will working hard for considering the World Cup is on the horizon, then you never know, the franchise can comeback from the dark corner to throw an unlikely surprise or two.

Threats

It is the back-up pace-bowling options that Rajasthan have might well prove to a danger for them. Oshane Thomas had done well in the CPL, but his durability is something that he can never be proud of. Say, in case, Jaydev Unadkat and Varun Aaron failed to deliver - and there is a good chance that they will - then the situation can turn worse for the team and the batting unit will be under tremendous pressure.

Squad

Ajinkya Rahane, Krishnappa Gowtham, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Gopal, Aryaman Birla, S. Midhun, Prashant Chopra, Stuart Binny, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes, Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Ish Sodhi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mahipal Lomror, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas, Ashton Turner, Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Riyan Parag, Manan Vohra, Shubham Ranjane

Ideal Starting XI

Sportscafe Best XI : Ajinkya Rahane, Jos Buttler*, Steve Smith*, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes*, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer*, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat

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