IPL 2018: Rajasthan Royals hope to find light at the end of two-year journey in dark

Whether two years is time enough a realise what it means to have been involved in corruption or not, one does not know. It is, however, enough to fully understand what it means to miss playing in the costliest cricket league in the world. Rajasthan Royals’ journey in the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been interesting thus far. From being the champions in the first season of the tournament after having got the tag of ‘underdogs’, they ended up becoming a ‘cheating’ side in 2015. Led by two legends of the game — Shane Warne and Rahul Dravid — ironically their next captain, Steve Smith, was caught cheating while playing for his national side just before the start of IPL 11. [caption id=“attachment_4414199” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Rajasthan Royals will try and make up for their two-year absence by lifting the IPL trophy this season. Sportzpics[/caption] It has been tough last two years for the franchise along with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and they hope that whatever darkness has entered through the doors in the past is diminished by the shine of an IPL trophy in 2018. Replacing Steve Smith, the batsman Steve Smith has become history for Royals for now and an ideal replacement as captain has been found in Ajinkya Rahane. While his absence as captain might not be felt in Royals’ dugout in the presence of Rahane, his batting prowess will be dearly missed by the team. Smith had a marvellous season last year, scoring 472 runs in 15 games for now-defunct Rising Pune Supergiant, taking his side to the final of the tournament in the process. Having failed in the format early on, his T20 game has sharpened over the years. Royals have called in South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen as replacement but it would be right to say that he does not come with the same skill-set. Also, Klaasen finding a place in the side in presence of Jos Buttler, who will be the first choice wicket-keeper, looks unlikely. Strong middle-order Ajinkya Rahane would have a sweet headache on his very first day as captain when he has to decide on who will be his opening batsmen as there as many as six options available,  including himself. What looks likely is that he might choose to come at number 3 as now Smith is not available. And what follows him is a pretty strong middle-over. There is Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, and either Sanju Samson or Rahul Tripathi, if one of them does not open the innings. Such a batting unit owns the ability to put up a solid total on the board and chase one down as well when needed. Buttler and Stokes are two batsmen who can steer the innings as well as up the tempo at will whenever required. Weak spin department In IPL history, a side not consisting of a strong spin department has suffered and Rajasthan Royals, for the first time, look fragile on that front. While there is Ankit Sharma, who bowls left-arm orthodox and Zahir Khan, who is an addition to the list of slow left-arm chinaman bowlers, the quality as compared to the other teams is lacking. Also, almost every team has leg-spinners ranging from decent to brilliant in their squad, but Royals does not boast of any. Rashid Khan (Sunrisers Hyderabad), Piyush Chawla (Kolkata Knight Riders), Yuzvendra Chahal (Royal Challengers Bangalore) and Amit Mishra (Delhi Daredevils) are prime examples of how much good can quality leg-spin bring in IPL. There is a reason why their franchisees either bought them back or retained them. Biggest strength Often being rated as ‘Underdogs’, Rajasthan Royals’ biggest strength has been the lack of stars in the line-up. It is these unknown heroes who have been their real stars. From the first season to their last, they have believed in grooming the young and local talent. Almost in every edition, there were new sets of faces who did well for the side. Such nature of a team also brings in the unpredictability factor because as an opposition, you never know what to expect, what is coming your way next. This year too, apart from some well-known faces, there is a huge talent pool at Rahane’s disposal. It goes down to how well he uses them. Whatever maybe the scenario at the end of the season, with Rajasthan Royals, you always expect the IPL to be exciting. Only time will tell, how this re-emergence pans out for them. Squad: Ajinkya Rahane, Ankit Sharma, Anureet Singh, Jofra Archer, Stuart Binny, Aryaman Birla, Jos Buttler, Dishmantha Chameera, Prashant Chopra, Shreyas Gopal, Krishnappa Gowtham, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ben Laughlin, Mahipal Lomror, Sudhesan Midhun, Sanju Samson, Jatin Saxena, D’Arcy Short, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Jaydev Unadkat, Zahir Khan