At the start of their match against Chennai Super Kings on Monday, Rajasthan Royals were at the bottom of the Indian Premier League points...
At the start of their match against Chennai Super Kings on Monday, Rajasthan Royals were at the bottom of the Indian Premier League points table. While there were several reasons for their string of defeats up until then, a major factor in their downfall was the lack of firepower in their batting.
After wins in their first two games thanks largely to Sanju Samson and Rahul Tewatia’s heroics, Rajasthan struggled to find the right combination in their batting order. Skipper Steve Smith lost his touch and Samson reverted to type by failing to sustain the momentum he’d built.
But what was, perhaps, hurting Rajasthan the most was the indifferent form of arguably their biggest match-winner: Jos Buttler. The star right-hander showed what he was capable of when he scored 70 in a losing cause against Mumbai Indians, but he was struggling to make a real mark for the Royals.
Buttler, who played a significant role in England’s ODI World Cup triumph last year, is one of the finest white-ball batsmen of this generation. He is a key pillar in the RR setup but he simply didn’t do enough in the first half of this IPL season.
One would expect him to win matches single-handedly for his team, as AB de...
