From the iSport Cricket Paddock: iSporter Adam Bayfield pens his special on the struggles that the Rajasthan Royals are undergoing this IPL season III.
There is a moment in the 1956 Hollywood adaptation of Around the World in 80 Days when David Niven’s Phileas Fogg, stranded in the Bengali jungle and with no other means of onward transport, decides to dip deep into his pockets and procure, as a last resort, an elephant. One of his companions, a pompous British colonel with amusing whiskers, is upset at the amount he is forced to hand over to the local merchants. ‘1000 pounds for an elephant? Outrageous!’ he exclaims. ‘You’ve been diddled!’ ‘Undoubtedly,’ Fogg replies smoothly, ‘but it’s not often one needs an elephant in a hurry.’
The Rajasthan Royals, champions in the inaugural season, are struggling this year. Victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders last Saturday cannot paper over the cracks that were so brutally exposed by Royal Challengers Bangalore a few days before. Their current travails should come as no surprise; on paper, they have the weakest team in the tournament, and so it is proving in practice. This lack of strength is ultimately due to their unwillingness to open the chequebook – while rival franchises bought big at this year’s auction, the Royals tightened the purse strings, even receiving a reprimand from Lalit Modi for making just three modest signings.
While this thriftiness is certainly admirable in the present climate, it is unlikely to foster much success on the pitch in a competition forged by and driven by financial concerns. Rajasthan baulked at the extravagant sums being splashed around at the auction, clearly feeling that the box office players were overpriced, but sometimes, like Phileas Fogg, you have to accept that to get what you want you might have to spend more than you want. The alternative, as the Royals are discovering, is failure.
Their policy of economy paid off in the first season, but that triumph now seems an awfully long time ago. Without Shane Watson and the Pakistani players that were an integral (and perhaps underappreciated) part of that success, the side is desperately short of firepower with the bat (save for the not inconsiderable exception of Yusuf Pathan) and lacking penetration with the ball. The other teams appear to have the measure of them. They must, surely, be regretting not spending a bit more.
It has not helped that two of the star names they do possess have been struck down by injuries. After watching his ponderous first few efforts this season, some people questioned Graeme Smith’s value as a T20 player, but nobody who saw him dismantle England’s bowling attack in Centurion last November with 88 from 44 balls would be in any doubt that his absence now is a major setback, as is that of the canny customer Dmitri Mascarenhas. A bigger problem, however, has been the lack of form of those key players that do remain.
Shane Warne is starting to look like a giant with feet of clay. His fearsome aura, further mythologised in the victorious first season, is eroding before our eyes. Prior to the fixture with Kings XI Punjab, the Royals’ room-mates in the basement, he had leaked 90 runs from his 13 overs, with just one wicket as reward. Worse than the bare statistics, he simply hasn’t looked like the intimidator of old – the flipper has disappeared, and his repertoire of stock deliveries, lacking their customary fizz, seem to hold no fear for opposition batsmen. This ambassador for the IPL, this colossus of the sport, looks, it must be said, ordinary.
To return to the tiresome 80 Days analogy, Warne, along with his old mate, Damien Martyn, are beginning to look rather incongruous, and perhaps even anachronistic, in this format, like David Niven attempting to act alongside Bruce Willis and Vin Diesel in an action blockbuster – a fine actor, no doubt, but in the wrong movie. Where this analogy falls down, of course, is that Shane Warne is about as far removed from an erudite English aristocrat as it’s possible to be, but you get the picture.
With no competitive cricket in between IPLs, Warne was always running the risk of rustiness. He is in good shape physically (Daryl Cullinan eat your heart out), but there is no substitute for overs under your belt. Anil Kumble seems to be doing alright, and it is easier for batsmen like Hayden and Gilchrist, who rely more on eye than rhythm, but Warne is certainly struggling. Perhaps retirement is finally beginning to affect his career. Must be annoying.
Regardless of the captain’s personal difficulties, Rajasthan need to rouse themselves, and quickly, if they are even to avoid embarrassment this year. After the unveiling of a new link with Hampshire, Trinidad & Tobago and the Cape Cobras in February, the Royals became perhaps the most recognisable of the franchises around the world. If they don’t turn things around on the pitch, that is going to start to seem horribly like an empire built on sand. Then they really will have to get the chequebook out.
The Rajasthan Royals, champions in the inaugural season, are struggling this year. Victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders last Saturday cannot paper over the cracks that were so brutally exposed by Royal Challengers Bangalore a few days before. Their current travails should come as no surprise; on paper, they have the weakest team in the tournament, and so it is proving in practice. This lack of strength is ultimately due to their unwillingness to open the chequebook – while rival franchises bought big at this year’s auction, the Royals tightened the purse strings, even receiving a reprimand from Lalit Modi for making just three modest signings.
While this thriftiness is certainly admirable in the present climate, it is unlikely to foster much success on the pitch in a competition forged by and driven by financial concerns. Rajasthan baulked at the extravagant sums being splashed around at the auction, clearly feeling that the box office players were overpriced, but sometimes, like Phileas Fogg, you have to accept that to get what you want you might have to spend more than you want. The alternative, as the Royals are discovering, is failure.
Their policy of economy paid off in the first season, but that triumph now seems an awfully long time ago. Without Shane Watson and the Pakistani players that were an integral (and perhaps underappreciated) part of that success, the side is desperately short of firepower with the bat (save for the not inconsiderable exception of Yusuf Pathan) and lacking penetration with the ball. The other teams appear to have the measure of them. They must, surely, be regretting not spending a bit more.
It has not helped that two of the star names they do possess have been struck down by injuries. After watching his ponderous first few efforts this season, some people questioned Graeme Smith’s value as a T20 player, but nobody who saw him dismantle England’s bowling attack in Centurion last November with 88 from 44 balls would be in any doubt that his absence now is a major setback, as is that of the canny customer Dmitri Mascarenhas. A bigger problem, however, has been the lack of form of those key players that do remain.
Shane Warne is starting to look like a giant with feet of clay. His fearsome aura, further mythologised in the victorious first season, is eroding before our eyes. Prior to the fixture with Kings XI Punjab, the Royals’ room-mates in the basement, he had leaked 90 runs from his 13 overs, with just one wicket as reward. Worse than the bare statistics, he simply hasn’t looked like the intimidator of old – the flipper has disappeared, and his repertoire of stock deliveries, lacking their customary fizz, seem to hold no fear for opposition batsmen. This ambassador for the IPL, this colossus of the sport, looks, it must be said, ordinary.
To return to the tiresome 80 Days analogy, Warne, along with his old mate, Damien Martyn, are beginning to look rather incongruous, and perhaps even anachronistic, in this format, like David Niven attempting to act alongside Bruce Willis and Vin Diesel in an action blockbuster – a fine actor, no doubt, but in the wrong movie. Where this analogy falls down, of course, is that Shane Warne is about as far removed from an erudite English aristocrat as it’s possible to be, but you get the picture.
With no competitive cricket in between IPLs, Warne was always running the risk of rustiness. He is in good shape physically (Daryl Cullinan eat your heart out), but there is no substitute for overs under your belt. Anil Kumble seems to be doing alright, and it is easier for batsmen like Hayden and Gilchrist, who rely more on eye than rhythm, but Warne is certainly struggling. Perhaps retirement is finally beginning to affect his career. Must be annoying.
Regardless of the captain’s personal difficulties, Rajasthan need to rouse themselves, and quickly, if they are even to avoid embarrassment this year. After the unveiling of a new link with Hampshire, Trinidad & Tobago and the Cape Cobras in February, the Royals became perhaps the most recognisable of the franchises around the world. If they don’t turn things around on the pitch, that is going to start to seem horribly like an empire built on sand. Then they really will have to get the chequebook out.
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