Uncertain Captaincy
RR have made Riyan Parag as stand in captain as Sanju Samson is not fully fit and he is playing as an impact player now. The youngster is feeling the pressure of handling an IPL franchise. Riyan Parag made few gambles which didn’t go well, so now he is facing the consequences as RR lost 2 matches.
He didn’t start with Jofra Archer in the powerplay where the veteran would have troubled the SRH openers with some pace and movement. He brought him in the 5th over and he got bashed for 23 runs in his first over. Archer lost his momentum there and leaked runs in his every over , entered into the worst record of expensive spell in IPL history.
In the second match, he started his first over really well and he got hit for few boundaries by De Kock in his second over. Riyan cut his spell and operated with spinners in the powerplay. He came back to bowl when the match his over already and De Kock smashed him again and finished the match.
Bad bowling rotations
This gamble of bowling rotations not only affected Archer but had effects on other bowlers too. Deshpande was not used in the powerplay in both matches. He used to be the powerplay specialist for CSK in previous seasons. Yesterday against KKR, he came to bowl in the 15th over and just bowled 1 over when a part-timer, Riyan Parag, completed his quota. He should probably open the bowling with Archer instead of Mahesh Theekshana.
Mahesh Theekshana is bowling 2 overs in powerplay and almost finishing his quota within 10 overs. He and Hasaranga should together operate in the middle overs. Mahesh can bowl a maximum of 1 over in powerplay not more than that, unless your fast bowlers are getting bashed badly. These two spinners will be more effective in the middle overs with slightly old ball.
Sandeep Sharma should be reserved for the death overs instead of Deshpande. He bowling 3 overs in the last 5, along with Archer and Deshpande bowling each over will be a perfect combination of death bowling for RR. In case if any one of these 2 is having a bad day, Hasaranga or Theekshana can bowl that one over in the death.
Lack of a proper batting plan
RR batters should have a proper plan of who will play at what order and who will attack on what situation, and how to attack. In yesterday’s match, Hasaranga came up the order at the No.5 position and he was blindly slogging against KKR’s best bowler Varun Chakravarthy in 10th over. He eventually lost his wicket to Varun in the same over.
If you are counterattacking a bowler like Varun, you should have a proper plan like Phil Salt and Virat Kohli had against him in the first match. They attacked Varun sensibly by playing with straight bat and using the slog sweep occasionally. They were not simply going for a slog in every delivery.
Even the batting order was not stable as Shubam Dubey is coming in as an impact player ahead of Shimron Hetmyer and Hetmyer is pushed down to no.8 in this match. Things are not going in their way for RR in this new season. Hope Riyan Parag learns his lessons soon and Sanju recovers soon and become fully fit as a captain which may change the fortune of the team.
Also Read: RR vs KKR: Quinton De Kock’s Resurgence At Top Of Order