Royals a thorn in Knights’ flesh
WARY Even during KKR’s dream run under Gambhir, Rajasthan have often proved a tricky team to beat KOLKATA:
It seemed like an aberration that one of cricket’s most famous amphitheatres had to wait for 11 seasons to hold eliminators of the Indian Premier League (IPL). More so because in that time it held two IPL finals. That will be righted this week when in Wednesday’s eliminator, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) take on Rajasthan Royals (RR).
It fits that KKR will feature in the first of those ties because this is not a home match for the men in purple. They are the only team that will play at home as IPL11 hits the homestretch. And given the kind of atmosphere the Eden has created this term, and in the past, it seems appropriate that KKR are playing the eliminator at home.
On Wednesday night, the Eden will be heaving and throbbing with energy, creating the kind of buzz it is famous for. And given that Rajasthan Royals doesn’t have a Kohli or a Dhoni, the support is likely to be all for the home team.
Stephen Fleming, the CSK coach and former New Zealand captain, always says that there is more than one way to do the same thing.
CONTRASTING APPROACHES
So, it is with KKR and RR. Their approach to team building is completely different but both have made it to the business end of the competition. By investing in the Caribbean Premier League and the Twenty20 competition in South Africa, the Knights have tried to take their brand beyond India. Suspended from two editions of the competition, RR have not yet shown any inclination to do likewise.
KKR have shown continuity in their coaching staff which decided to have only 19 players this term. Shane Warne, the RR mentor, on the other hand was a late entrant and is known to have said that a coach is something that gets a team to the stadium.
Ever since Warne took this Moneyball team to victory in the first IPL, Royals have struck to avoiding stars and depending on a collective effort.
They made a player out of Swapnil Asnodkar, stars out of Yusuf Pathan and Ravindra Jadeja and revived Shane Watson’s international career.
KKR on the other hand Leading from the front: Like Gambhir, DK brings a lot of energy to his captaincy and has come good with the bat. At 438 runs from 14 games, he is KKR’s highest scorer and has finished games.
Collective effort: No one from KKR feautres among top 10 run getters while Sunil Narine is 8th among top 10 wicket-takers. It shows that KKR have not relied on one or two players to get them this far. Whenever required, someone has stepped up either with the bat or ball .
The Dre Rus factor: With 13 wickets, he has been KKR’s man with the golden arm. And he has t 264 runs at a strike rate of 189.92 providing impetus at the back-end. Uthappa’s patchy performance: He is the vice-captain and was supposed to shoulder responsibility in the top order. But Uthappa has got just one 50 and has averaged 24.71 in 14 games.
Lower order woes: In the last three games, Shubman Gill and the rest have not got enough time in the middle and while that can be a good thing, it could make things difficult should the tail need to wag.
No real pace ace: It has been an area of concern for KKR since Mitchell Starc pulled up injured. Mitchell Johnson isn’t a patch on the bowler who scared with his pace. Shivam Mavi has done well for someone who won the under-19 World Cup but has twice gone for 28 in one over. pitched for Ricky Ponting, Shoaib Akhtar, Salman Butt, Umer Gul, Ishant Sharma, Chrish Gayle and Brendon McCullum and David Hussey. And in Sourav Ganguly, they had a captain who knew a thing or two about winning. Collective effort: This is something Rajasthan Royals have in common with their opponents. From K Gowtham to Shreyas Gopal through bit parts from others, they have done well enough to get among the top four.
The Jofra Archer factor: He missed a few games at the start and to say RR missed him would be understating the obvious. In nine games he has taken 13 wickets at a strike rate of 16.07. Bowling: RR bowlers have
|fired in unision. Shreyas Gopal took four wickets against RCB,
Ben Laughlin and Jaydev
Unadkat took a brace each and gave Royals hope. Unadkat has so far taken 11 wickets. Missing Buttler and Stokes:
Jos Buttler has been a key player for RR but he is not avaialable anymore. He notched up five successive half-centuries. Stokes, too, came good with the ball towards the end and will be missed. Ajinkya Rahane’s lean run: Unlike Karthik, the Royals skipper has not been at his best. Rahane has 324 runs in 14 games with only one 50. Most importantly, it has come at a poor strike rate of 119.11. Opening partnership woes: D’Arcy Short hasn’t fired and
Buttler has gone home. Rahul Tripathi has looked iffy and in the last match, Jofra Archer opened and was out for a duck. It is something that will worry Royals.
But it was Rajasthan Royals who beat KKR home and away in the first edition.
Even when KKR’s team dynamics changed under Gautam Gambhir, RR proved quite a thorn as the double in 2014 proved; one which included RR winning a match in the Super Over.
It was the same result in 2009 when the teams were tied after 40 overs of cricket. This year, KKR have beaten RR twice in the league phase. They now need a hat-trick to stay alive in IPL11.