Rajasthan Royals won two stunning victories in high-scoring affairs in Sharjah but their batting came a cropper in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. One of the main reasons for that is their over-dependence on Jos Buttler, Steve Smith and Sanju Samson. Rajasthan Royals failed to keep up the momentum after a flying start in IPL 2020.
Rajasthan Royals won against Chennai by 16 runs after posting 216/7 with Steven Smith and Sanju Samson scoring fifties. In the next match, they beat KXIP by 4 wickets after successfully chasing a stiff target of 224. Again Steve Smith and Sanju Samson scored the fifties and Rahul Tewatia played a cameo of 53 runs.
KKR won after RR failed to chase 175 with Steve Smith and Sanju Samson failing to score double digits. RCB beat RR by 8 wickets as RR’s top order failed and they could only score 154/6. RR next face defending champions MI in Abu Dhabi. With two wins and as many losses, RR are placed 5th so far in the points table, having 4 points in their kitty.
Rajasthan Royals’ Batsmen Robin Uthappa And Riyan Parag Needs To Deliver: Gautam Gambhir
“Time’s running out for both Robin Uthappa and Riyan Parag. Uthappa has not looked in any kind of form, to be honest,” Gambhir told ESPNCricinfo.
Robin Uthappa has so far notched up only 33 runs with 17 being his highest at a meagre average of 8.25. Gautam Gambhir, who has shared the dressing room with Robin Uthappa for KKR, said that time is running out for the right-handed wicket-keeper batsman.
“Robin Uthappa has to deliver. There were a lot of expectations that Robin will be able to finish off games, and if not that, at least give them the momentum they need in the middle order. So, Robin needs to deliver on those expectations,” Gambhir said.
The former KKR captain also said that young Riyan Parag too needs to fire, otherwise there will be a lot of changes in the RR team combination as soon as England all-rounder Ben Stokes arrives.
“Riyan Parag has not looked in any kind of form either. So, obviously they have guys sitting on the bench, plus when Ben Stokes shows in, the combination will be completely different,” he said.
Jos Buttler too has scored only 47 runs averaging 15.67 while Riyan Parag has scored only 23 runs averaging only 5.75 with the bat. On the other hand, Steve Smith has amassed 127 runs and Sanju Samson has accumulated 171 runs averaging a decent 42.75.
Rajasthan Royals Are Heavily Dependent On Jos Buttler, Steve Smith And Sanju Samson: Gautam Gambhir
Gautam Gambhir talked about the heavy dependence on the top-order lineup for RR as they are too much reliable on Jos Buttler, Steve Smith and Sanju Samson for scoring big runs.
“It’s pretty tricky for them, because they are heavily dependent on Jos Buttler, Steve Smith and Sanju Samson. If all of them go out early in one game, there are serious issues for them, so they need to rectify their middle order,” he said.
Rajasthan Royals had also tried out various players like Mohipal Lomror who scored 47 against RCB and Yashasvi Jaiswal who scored 6 against CSK. David Miller scored a duck when he was run out before facing a ball in RR’s opening game against CSK.