Author : A Smith | Created : 2022-08-24 12:40:00
Rajasthan Royals is a team that has had a very interesting history in the Indian Premier League (IPL). They were IPL champions in 2008 and 2010 but have never really been able to sustain their success. The team has just one finals appearance since then, which came in 2015 when they lost to Chennai Super Kings. They have never won an IPL title since that 2010 win either as they continue to struggle with consistency issues every year. However, there are some good signs for them this year as well as we look ahead to 2021 and beyond.
There is a new captain at the helm for Rajasthan Royals in 2021. Sanju Samson has replaced Steve Smith and he will hope to finally lead from the front this time.
Sanju Samson has been in and around the Indian team for some time now, but he seems to have found his feet at the right moment. In Rajasthan Royals’ last match against Delhi Capitals, where they lost by 72 runs, he scored 57 off 41 balls which included four boundaries and two sixes while chasing a target of 157 runs. It was not only his batting that impressed but also his bowling as he picked up two wickets conceding only 13 runs in three overs with an economy rate of 3.96 per over.
In addition to being a good batsman, Sanju Samson is also known for his leadership qualities which were on display when India won their first ever World Cup title back in 1983 when Kapil Dev led them to victory over England at Lord’s Cricket Ground in London via D/L method after rain had interrupted play during final innings due to which both teams needed extra 20 overs (10 each) to settle scores.
Sanju Samson had a great IPL 2020 as he struck 375 runs at an average of 41.66 and a strike-rate of 145.76 before his team lost steam towards the end of the season.
Samson's batting was one of the main reasons why Kerala Kings won three out of their first five games in IPL 2020, with him scoring two centuries and two fifties in that period. He also scored his maiden century on April 22nd against Mumbai Indians, becoming only the second player from Kerala to score a century after Marcus Stoinis did it earlier in 2019. In fact, Stoinis' 100 came off just 53 balls while Samson took 65 deliveries to reach his ton! However, after this match against Mumbai Indians things started going downhill for him as he failed to make any impact in most matches thereafter.
Andrew McDonald has been appointed as the new coach of the Royals and will be looking to steer them to victory.
The former Australian player, who is known for his great record in the IPL, has previously been a part of Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore. He has also coached Delhi Capitals and Australia’s cricket team. The 49-year-old is said to have a good rapport with players and can get them motivated quickly before every match.
While CSK have retained most of their key players, Rajasthan Royals (RR) has retained all of theirs as well. With the addition of Shivam Dube, they are looking like one of the strongest teams on paper. They have some excellent players from New Zealand and now have a very good middle order to provide support to Jos Buttler and Carlos Brathwaite.
The team also has some of England’s best performers in Ben Stokes, Jonny Bairstow, Chris Morris, Joffra Archer, Jos Buttler and Jaydev Unadkat.
Stokes is one of the best all-rounders in world cricket with an average more than 40 runs per match in Test matches. He is also a handy bowler who has taken more than 220 wickets in his career so far. Bairstow is a very good wicketkeeper batsman while Chris Morris is a very good bowler with an average more than 30 runs per match in ODIs and Tests respectively. Joffra Archer is also a very good bowler who has taken over 100 wickets at an average less than 20 runs per match
The Australian team has some excellent players from New Zealand in Mitchell Marsh and Ish Sodhi while David Miller is one of their Australia representatives along with D’Arcy Short who can be a good option if needed.
Mitchell Marsh: Mitchell Marsh has been around for more than five years, but he played only six matches during this time period. In these games, he scored just 299 runs at an average of 39.50 and took only three wickets at an economy rate of 6.90 per over; he also conceded no fewer than 33 runs per match in the bowling department. His best performance came against India where he scored 42 off 30 balls against the world champions on their home ground earlier this year before going on to take 2/45 off his 10 overs after coming back into the side as a replacement for Nathan Coulter-Nile due to injury issues sustained by him during his previous outing against Pakistan in Melbourne when Australia lost both matches within 24 hours despite playing well throughout that time period; however, all these performances were not enough for him to get selected again as NSW paceman Sean Abbott got preferred instead even though there seemed nothing wrong with any part of his game except maybe confidence levels which might have gone up after getting dropped first time around because then again there are many other factors involved when it comes down trying making selection decisions - like politics!
RR has also added Chetan Sakariya from Saurashtra during the IPL 2021 auction. He is a wicketkeeper-batsman who had an impressive domestic season, finishing as the second highest run scorer in Ranji Trophy 2019-20 season with 928 runs at an average of 58.54 and strike rate of 89.18 in 8 matches. His glovework is good too as he has taken 21 catches behind the stumps. He can be drafted as a backup keeper for RR in case they want to give their regular wicketkeeper Shubhman Gill some rest or if they need someone else to cover up for him while he breaks into International cricket next year.
With all this firepower, RR has to be the team to beat in IPL 2021.