Will the rose be the color of royal redemption?

A dream debut for the Indian Premier League – summing up the history of rags in riches with a heap of unknowns – was an attractive opening chapter for the Rajasthan Royals and the league itself. But the complete novel, despite many exciting moments, as well as hardships and tribulations, would leave the reader with a lot of discontent. With less than a third place of the 2013 season, the Royals' scenario is in contrast to this remarkable opening start where they surprised many people with their guerrilla warfare.

After two years in limbo due to the suspension of the team, a big comeback was expected of them in 2018. But, again, they flattered to deceive. Will 2019 mark the beginning of a new story?

For starters, they decided to switch to pink to adopt the traditional color of the city on which they are based. But for their cricket health to reflect the same hue throughout the trip in 2019, they must remedy some wrongs.

In spite of sometimes exceptional performances, the lack of regularity is reflected in their score, which marked seven victories and seven defeats, qualifying for the dams but not holding the distance. Their biggest draws – Ben Stokes and Jaydev Unadkat – did not do justice to their prize as their skipper Ajinkya Rahane was unable to set the tone both with the bat and with his tactics in the field. .

Retrospecting the past may not do much, but learning from it certainly will, and the Royals hope that the twelfth season of the IPL will provide the text of the story of redemption.

Probably from XI: Ajinkya Rahane, Jos Buttler, Steven Smith, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Shreyas Gopal, K Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhaul Kulkarni / Varun Aaron

Others in the team: Prashant Chopra, Manan Vohra, Aryaman Birla, Stuart Binny, Shashank Singh, Liam Livingstone, Shubham Ranjane, Ashton Turner, Riyan Parag, Mahipal Lomror, Ish Sodhi, Oshane Thomas, SudhSan Midhun

Strengths: Big names and X-Factor players

Despite a sub-par season in 2018, the Royals will expect a lot of Stokes, including excess energy with the ball, the ability to take the bowlers and rebuild a run if necessary, covering many goals. With Jos Buttler at the top for blitzy starts, the return of reliable Steven Smith and proven multi-talented players in the form of Jofra Archer and K Gowtham, the Royals have plenty of good business.

Outside Stokes, Unadkat also had a mediocre exit last year, but the franchise has trusted him by buying it for INR. 8.4 Crore – the biggest joint purchase of the 2019 auction. They hope he will justify it by replicating his 2017 form, where he finished second best box taker with 24 scalps with an average of 13.41 and a saving of 7.02.

Weakness: Indian sticking options

Rahane had a strike rate of 118.21 last season, while Sanju Samson – his second best scorer – with 441 points at 137.81 – was hot and cold. Buttler scored half of the more than 50 Royals-managed scores last year, while Samson scored three. If a comparison were to be made with last season's title holders, the Chennai Super Kings had more than 10 Indian scores.

With the exception of Rahane and Samson, the Indian batting staff do not inspire much confidence and do not leave much room for change, even if the Royals want to strengthen their bowling alignment with foreign names. The skipper himself must be much more proactive at the beginning of the heats, but his poor form in the recently won Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy – 58 races in six games at a strike rate of 107.4 – is a reason for the action. This does not bode well for a team before the start of a big tournament like the IPL.

opportunities: The strength of the bench abroad, the Indians with ambitions back

Ashton Turner made a lot of heads turn in the ODI series against India, and although he had no idea why the Royals chose him at auctions, he will be eager to prove that his franchise has made the right choice. call. Despite his ups and downs in recent years, Oshane Thomas is another quality option in the ranks, just like Liam Livingstone who has just played three half-centuries in the Super League of Pakistan.

Meanwhile, personalities such as Manan Vohra and Varun Aaron – well-known names in the IPL circle – will hope to make them count, if opportunities arise.

Threats: World Cup preparations

When will the English players leave – before the single ODO against Ireland starting May 3rd or the ODI series against Pakistan that starts on May 8th? Australia sees the IPL as a platform to bring Smith back into the fold. But will he be invited to return sooner if they plan to manage their workload, especially with the cricket player, whose ban ends in a few days and who is recovering from an elbow injury? All of these combined could leave the Royals with extremely small numbers in terms of foreign names and they will have a lot to think about during the second half of the PIL.

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