Why Jos Buttler needs to bat No.4 for Rajasthan Royals

Just after one matchday for each side, Pat Cummins was branded the worst IPL signing of all time, Devudtt Padikkal was labelled the next Yuvraj Singh and Chennai Super Kings’ decision to stick with the oldies was seen as a masterstroke. Long story short, all theories were proven wrong after a couple of more matchdays, after which the same fans, surprisingly, started becoming a bit more rational and pragmatic. 

For they are a team who, like Sunrisers Hyderabad, are unreasonably top-heavy and are exorbitantly and unhealthily reliant on their three best batsmen, Jos Buttler, Steve Smith and Sanju Samson. The Royals are set-up in a way that they can only succeed in the case of two scenarios coming to fruition: the first, in the case of one or more than one of their top three almost batting through the entire innings and two, one or more than one of their middle-order batsmen overperforming inconceivably. 

The composition of the XI they fielded against KKR - strong top-order, non-existent middle-order and two overseas pacer - is such that, should they opt for a similar structure in the forthcoming games, it might yield them binary results: an embarrassing defeat like yesterday, or thrilling and dominant victories like against CSK and KXIP.  Historical evidence in the IPL suggests that teams with overwhelming disparity in quality between two facets - in Rajasthan’s case, their top-order and the rest of the batting - have seldom succeeded, and so it will only be wise to assume that RR will lose more than they will win, thanks to the law of averages bound to catch-up with their top three - as it did, on Wednesday.

But, unlike SRH, Rajasthan have strength in depth, and are a naturally more balanced side, and thus can fix their imbalance with one major change. It is as major as it can get, though, for it will need them to bat Jos Buttler down the order.

However, there is more to it than what meets the eye. The RR side of 2020 is not like every other side Buttler has been a part of. While at Mumbai in 2017 - where he also opened - he had the Pollard and Pandyas down the order, and at Rajasthan a couple of seasons ago he had Samson, Stokes and Binny at 4, 5, 6 and in England he has the Morgans and Alis to build on his exploits, that simply is not the case with the current RR side. The absence of Stokes, coupled with a top three of Smith, Buttler and Samson, means that RR have Uthappa, Tewatia and Parag as their middle-order; basically, one veteran past his best, one bits-and-pieces all-rounder who is not a specialist batsman and one unproven youngster, all three of whom are unreliable, as their trusted core. 

As was evident from the KKR game, that simply won’t suffice and won’t be feasible in the long-run. Even in the case of the top-order setting a platform for the side, RR, right now, have a middle-order incapable of capitalizing on it, as we learnt from the CSK game where, before Ngidi and Archer did what they did, the middle-order blew the platform set by Smith and Samson. 

To compliment Buttler moving to the middle-order, though, Rajasthan would have to make a few other changes to the side which, one imagines, will subsequently improve both the team and the balance. Young Yashasvi Jaiswal or the hard-hitting Manan Vohra would need to partner Smith at the top of the order  - at the expense of Uthappa, who clearly is a liability in the middle-order - and David Miller, at least until Stokes returns, would have to join Buttler down the order. Despite his valiant efforts with both bat and ball thus far this season, given RR already have one world-class overseas pacer in Jofra Archer, Tom Curran is a luxury which the side cannot currently afford. Given there is plenty of rich Indian talent in the pace department, a more logical and viable option would be to play one of Varun Aaron or Karthik Tyagi as the third seamer. 

The ball is in Rajasthan’s court. Contrary to the outrage and overreaction post the auction, 2020 might be the best opportunity for them to reach the play-offs in years. That they will need to overperform - particularly their Indian contingent - goes unsaid, but at their disposal is a squad, and lying in front of them is a path which, if utilized to good effect, might yield them success. For a supposed underdog like the Royals, tactical nous will be key to success, and so demoting Buttler to No.4 might, after all, not be a bad start in their quest to outsmart sides en route to glory.