IPL 2018 | Franchises need to pick players and mentors available for whole IPL, advises Sunil Gavaskar

Rajasthan Royals bid adieu to the IPL 2018 after losing to Kolkata Knight Riders by 25 runs in the Eliminator at Eden Gardens on Wednesday. KKR had scored 169 in their innings and Rajasthan were playing at a steady pace for about 10 overs of the innings. Rajasthan were 109 for 1 at the end of 14 overs, with a reachable target of 67 from 42 balls. However, they could manage just 41 runs by the last ball which sealed the game in KKR's favor.

Largely criticising the playing eleven compositions and the move to send Heinrich Klassen at number 4 and then Stuart Binny, Sunil Gavaskar stated that the franchise should only be blamed for their poor performance in the match. The legendary cricketer also admitted that the replacements for English duo Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes were not up to the level, which displayed the shortcomings of the side.

“Rajasthan shot themselves in the foot and missed out on a place in Qualifier 2 of the IPL. The Royals did not help themselves by the composition of their playing eleven in a game as important as the one at Eden Gardens. Yes, losing the English duo of Buttler and Stokes was never going to help, but their subsequent picks as replacement showed the inherent weakness in their squad. With all due respects, Klassen is not a No. 4 batsman and neither is Stuart Binny after him,” penned Sunil Gavaskar in his column for TOI.

“Both are better suited to lower-order slots at six and seven. No wonder, when Ajinkya Rahane got out, the innings just went limp as the next five overs saw only 25 runs being scored. The eventual margin of victory by 25 runs tells you how badly the Royals lost the plot.”

Gavaskar has also insisted that the IPL franchises to pick players and mentors who can be available for the whole season of IPL, after noticing how badly Rajasthan Royals Missed the services of Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler. Having said that Gavaskar noted, Rajasthan Royals also didn’t give enough chances to other players in the league stages to cope up with the loss of Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes.

“It’s about time the franchises realized that unless their players and mentors are ready to play the full season, they should not be picked. Knowing that Buttler and Stokes were not going to be available for the playoffs meant that Rajasthan had to make the most of them while they were available and that hardly gave them a chance of trying out some others in the squad,” concluded the former Indian opener.