IPL 2020: RR bowling heavily reliant on Jofra Archer, other bowlers need to back him up, says Virender Sehwag
Former India batsman Virender Sehwag said that Rajasthan Royals seem to be a one-man attack in their bowling department with everyone apart from Jofra Archer failing to perform
In Short
- Rajasthan Royals face Kings XI Punjab in a must-win game on Friday
- They have another game after this which will be against KKR on Sunday
- Six teams are still in the game for the 3 play-off spots that are available
We are in the last week of the group stages of the Indian Premier League 2020 and the league has been as good as it possibly can get.
With Mumbai Indians becoming the first team to qualify for the IPL 2020 Play-offs after Kolkata Knight Riders lost on Thursday to MS Dhoni’s CSK, there are still six teams fighting for the other 3 spots.
Rajasthan Royals will take on the Kings XI Punjab at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Friday. With two games left for Steve Smith’s men, they are in a do-or-die situation as a loss in any of the two games will knock them out of IPL 2020.
Looking at the composition of their team, former India opening batsman Virender Sehwag was of the opinion that it will be tough for them to beat KL Rahul’s KXIP on Friday.
The Royals bowling is where the team really seems to be lacking, according to the swashbuckling batsman. He said that with Jofra Archer bowling extremely well, the team is just a one-man attack, and said that he needs to be supported by the others if RR have to win their next two matches.
“The Rajasthan Royals bowlers are struggling. It is just a one-man attack. Jofra Archer works hard to gather dot balls and wickets, but [Ankit] Rajpoot and [Karthik] Tyagi carelessly give boundaries away.
“By the way, didn’t Rajasthan also get Varun Aaron to the UAE? He bowls at 140 kmph regularly. Are you saving him to invest in mutual funds? Abu Dhabi is a quick wicket and he could be useful over there,” Sehwag said in his usual humorous fashion.
‘Steve Smith has to figure out his batting position’
He also added that finally the batting seems to be clicking for the team, but was critical of skipper Steve Smith constantly changing his batting position.
“The Rajasthan batting has begun to look good, but one cannot understand what Steve Smith is trying to do about his batting position. He’s opening sometimes, playing at No. 3 at times, and has also played at No. 4 and No. 5. Is it a batting order or a buffet that everthing needs to be tried.
It would be better to send Jos Buttler at the top. It’s almost as if you have a canon with you but you are making do with a water pistol,” Sehwag said in his characteristic style.