Brad Hogg Rues Lack Of Indians In Rajasthan Royals Line-up

Brad Hogg, the former Australian left-arm wrist-spinner believes that the Rajasthan Royals do not have enough quality Indian players in their line-up hence they will have to rely on the likes of skipper Steve Smith, all-rounder Ben Stokes, and the explosive wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler to score the bulk amount of runs.

Steve Smith will lead Rajasthan Royals which consist of quality batsmen David Miller, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, and Steve Smith besides pacers Jaydev Unadkat, Jofra Archer, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas, and Andrew Tye. Youngsters like Sanju Samson, Shreyas Gopal, Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Akash Singh, Anuj Rawat, and Kartik Tyagi will also be present.

Brad Hogg Says No Experienced Indian In Batting And Bowling Line-up For Rajasthan Royals

In the bowling department too, Brad Hogg believes that there is no standout Indian pacer who has ample international experience. Thus all the burden might fall on Jofra Archer to deliver wickets up top and at the death.

“Rajasthan Royals do not have any Indian batsmen that can clear the fence in the middle overs. They are going to have to rely on the likes of Smith, Stokes and Buttler to do that role. There is no real standout among the Indian bowlers who has done the job on a national scale.

So for me, they did not invest enough in quality Indian players. If you have to win the IPL, you need to have a good core of Indian players in your list,” Brad Hogg said on his YouTube channel.

Indian players like batsman Robin Uthappa and bowler Jaydev Unadkat have experienced somewhat but apart from them, there is a shortage of experienced batsmen as well as bowlers. The youngsters who are fresh from playing the U-19 world Cup like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Akash Singh, and Kartik Tyagi may find it tough against opposition as they are short on experience.

Brad Hogg Questions Jos Buttler’s Batting Position In Rajasthan Royals Squad

Brad Hogg also believes that RR has too many openers. Players like Sanju Samson and Robin Uthappa can make the field restrictions in the powerplay count by finding the gaps in the field. But according to Brad Hogg, they cannot score quick runs in the middle overs because of their inability to rotate strike.

Due to this, Brad Hogg feels that Jos Buttler might have to play in the middle-order. But Jos Buttler has already shown in the last two editions of the IPL that he is at his destructive best when batting at the top of the order.

“The flaw for me is who is going to open the batting? Because for me, they have got Sanju Samson and Robin Uthappa in their line-up. Both of them are very good with the new ball in the powerplay because they can pierce the field. But in the middle-overs, they slow down a bit and can’t find the boundaries. So where does that leave Buttler in their batting line-up. That is a big issue for me,” he added.

IPL 2020 is set to begin from September 19th and will be played across three venues in the UAE. Rajasthan Royals will be aiming to win their first title since the inaugural edition which was led by legendary Australian Shane Warne way back in 2008.