Out of all the teams eliminated at the weekend, Rajasthan Royals (RR) would perhaps be most disappointed at not making the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 playoffs. After enjoying a scintillating season last time around, Rajasthan faltered at crucial stages of the tournament, losing key matches and some close contests along the way.
What we predicted
Rajasthan had one of the most star-laden squads in IPL 2023. Having retained their core players and with others hitting form for their domestic sides and international teams ahead of the tournament, RevSportz had RR among the title favourites this season. However, it was not meant to be for the Sanju Samson-led outfit.
Where they finished
The runners-up last season, Rajasthan had a topsy-turvy campaign as they finished fifth in the points table, with seven wins and as many defeats from 14 matches.
What went right?
Yashasvi Jaiswal, with 625 runs to his name, was one of the shining lights for the Royals in IPL 2023. He lit up the season with his eye-catching batting, leaving the fans and pundits in awe. Rajasthan started the tournament on a solid note, winning four out of their five games, but their form nosedived thereafter. The spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin were on song once again, scalping 21 and 14 wickets in the tournament.
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What went wrong?
The Rajasthan pace attack was a big let-down this season. With Prasidh Krishna injured, the RR pacers didn’t quite make an impact. While Trent Boult got his expected powerplay wickets, his bowling in other phases of the innings was a huge concern for the squad. The other pacers like Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini and KM Asif blew hot and cold whenever they got opportunities.
Saving grace
Even as Jos Buttler, Samson and Shimron Hetmyer, the senior pros, struggled to find any consistency, Jaiswal was quite magnificent. His 62-ball 124 at the Wankhede Stadium, in a match the bowlers managed to lose, was one of the best innings seen in the history of the competition.
Flop show
Buttler was one of the biggest disappointments for Rajasthan. Though he scored 392 runs, which is a decent return in any season, it was a mediocre tournament by his high standards. Samson, with just 362 runs to his name, would be as upset about his batting as he would be about his team not qualifying for the playoffs. This could have been the season for Samson to bang on the Team India door with his performances. But apart from a couple of solid knocks, he was a pale shadow of the batter he can be.