CHENNAI: Multiple problems exist through the Rajasthan Royals outfit. The top-order misfiring, the middle-order punching below their weight and the bowlers going for plenty. Luckily for them, Ben Stokes can address a few of these issues on his own. The all-rounder is back after visiting his ailing father in New Zealand but because of quarantine regulations, he will miss out from competing in Tuesday's match against Mumbai Indians.
So skipper Steve Smith has to answer multiple questions starting with whether it's worth to keep persisting with himself at the top of the order. If Smith decides to demote himself, they do have the option of bringing in the highly-rated Yashasvi Jaiswal as an opener.
In the middle-order, what do they do with Robin Uthappa (5, 9, 2 and 17 in his four innings) and Riyan Parag (6, 0, 1 and 16)? The latter is only 18 so there will be growing up pains but it's okay to carry a young player when the other parts of the team is clicking. When the others themselves are not pulling their worth, it may make sense to remove a young player from the firing line for a bit.
They can tweak by recalling South African David Miller (who made a zero in his only match against Chennai Super Kings) in place of Tom Curran, who hasn't had a good time of it in the desert. His military medium has yielded three wickets at an economy of 11.58 runs per over. For the fourth bowler, that's just criminal even when you take into account two of his four spells came at Sharjah.
If Miller comes in for Curran, they can elect to play the likes of Mayank Markande, an additional spinner to go with Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewatia, their existing options in that field. A further left-field addition could be to bring in Andrew Tye, a bowler who excels in this format, for Curran. That, however, could further expose their already brittle middle-order.
That's even before you get to the bowling front where everyone bar Jofra Archer have gone for plenty at some stage or the other. All of Jaydev Unadkat, Curran and Gopal have gone for 10 or more runs per over at least twice in four games. Teams will have studied this and even if Archer bowls four world-class overs — to be fair to the Englishman, he has gone under 6.50 runs per over in three of his four games — the other 16 will give teams opportunities to score.
Against a team like Mumbai, who have won three of their last four games, that could very well be the game. And that's why Rohit Sharma & Co. go into this game as complete favourites. In the five games they have played so far, their scores are: 162/9, 201/3, 191/4, 208/5 and 195/5. Irrespective of the surface, their batsmen have made runs. This is what you get when there is a settled look with respect to the batting order.
They have also been helped by the form of Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya and Ishan Kishan. Even as the middle-order of some of the other teams have appeared flaky, these three have peppered the boundary with ease. Sample this: the three of them have combined to score 426 runs from 257 balls at a strike rate of 165 in the five matches.
The other obvious key for them is taking wickets in the powerplay. Of the five games, their new ball bowlers have taken at least two wickets thrice before the first six overs. If they continue that trend against Royals, it could prove curtains for the Men in Pink.
Hearing Sharma speak after the win against Hyderabad also gave a clue into the squad's make-up. They are a very fluid franchise, with plans changing at all times. "Great effort from the boys to put those runs on the board," he had said. "We decide the middle order depending on how the game is going. Match-ups, match situation etc. It is great to have three power hitters. Today Krunal also showed his value. You come with bowling plans. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you have to bowl the best delivery at the time. I don't try to impose my plans on them. I want them to give me their plan."
The plan for them in Abu Dhabi will be more of the same.