Rajasthan Royals: King of Hearts

Statutory Warning – This blog has been written by a neutral IPL follower & not an ex-employee or a diehard Royals supporter.

Date: 24^th of May 2013, Venue: Eden Gardens Kolkata. The Rajasthan Royals takes on Mumbai Indians in a David vs. Goliath match. This was the eliminator match and the winner would meet Chennai Super Kings in the final of IPL 6.

The star studded Mumbai team included the likes of Slinga Malinga, the Turbanator – Harbhajan Singh, Swing King – Mitchell Johnson, the Goliath himself – Kieron Pollard, the big hitter – Dwayne Smith. It was said from the beginning that it might be a cake walk for Mumbai, an easy road for them to reach the finals. But for the Royals supporters that was never the case. The fact that their team made all the way in the top 3 places, made them believe that Royals had an equal chance to grab the final place. There are so many Mumbai fans all over India as compared to Rajasthan team. But still the 51:49 victory ratios on twitter battle said it all.

The journey till this match was indeed a fairytale for the Royals. But not those imaginary fairytale’s for certain. It was a well scripted & a well planned fairytale. The script writer was none other than our own Great Wall of India, as I call him, Rahul Dravid. It is really amazing to see how a bunch of inexperienced blokes are lead by one man, who not only was their leader, but a motivator and if needed a good friend too. I remember when I was working with Royals, Rahulda (as I used to call him) everyday used to talk to young blokes, motivate them, tell them how much they mean to the team, explain them their roles & responsibilities. All of them, to name a few – Ajinkya Rahane, Siddharth Trivedi, Stuart Binny, Dishant Yagnik well not just domestic players, but also players like Shane Watson, Johan Botha used to look up to him. I remember I had asked Watto, how it feels to play under captaincy of Rahul Dravid. As quoted by him, “Rahul Dravid is one of the best captains to play under, a motivator, a leader & a friend; he always stands beside you in your good & bad times. He is a true inspiration for all of us.” Yes, absolutely right Watto, this inspiration has helped the Royals come all the way to the playoffs.

Amidst all the controversies, the Rajasthan Royals, led by Rahul Dravid secured the CLT20 spot after a fabulous victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the same venue. The stage was set by the experienced Hodge who had the last laugh in that match which included dances, gimmicks and mixed emotions. But anyway, the point over here is, it’s never been an individual performance for the Royals. In every match, someone or the other has stood up strong for the occasion and guided the Royals towards victory. It’s not just the big guns who have fired, but players like Binny, Yagnik, Cooper whom we’ve never heard of before have been absolutely marvellous throughout this season. And yes, not to forget, the youngest player of IPL, Sanju Samson, I mean what brilliant performances has he given. We all remember his magical & match winning innings of 63 runs from just 41 balls with (7) 4s & (2) 6s. James Faulkner, the purple cap holder, bowled brilliantly throughout this season picking up 2 five wicket haul against SRH. I guess Royals have this knack of producing a revelation player every season. Few examples I can think of are Ravindra Jadeja, Ajinkya Rahane, Shane Watson, James Faulkner, and very soon Sanju Samson will join this league (hopefully he’ll go ahead and represent India very soon).

I have done a small analysis of the game changers for the top 3 teams of the league. Let’s have a look at which player has helped the team in that match. (The below performances have been taken only if the team has won the match. The match winning performance has been selected purely on my judgement, hence there might be discrepancies.)

Mumbai Indians		Chennai Super Kings		Rajasthan Royals
Opponent	Match Winners	Opponent	Match Winners	Opponent	Match Winners
DD	1) Dinesh Kartik 2) Rohit Sharma	KXIP	1) Dwayne Bravo 2) Michael Hussey	DD	1) Rahul Dravid, 2) Kevon Cooper 3) Stuart Binny
PWI	1) Rohit Sharma 2) Dinesh Kartik 3) Mitchell Johnson	RCB	1) Ravindra Jadeja	KKR	1) Kevon Cooper 2) Siddharth Trivedi 3) Brad Hodge
CSK	1) Kieron Pollard 2) Pragyan Ojha 3) Harbhajan Singh	DD	1) Michael Hussey 2) Mohit Sharma	KXIP	1) James Faulkner 2) Ajinkya Rahane 3) Siddharth Trivedi
KKR	1) Pragyan Ojha 2) Dwayne Smith	KKR	1) Ravindra Jadeja 2) Michael Hussey	MI	1) Ajinkya Rahane 2) Dishant Yagnik 3) James Faulkner
RCB	1) Dwayne Smith 2) Dinesh Kartik 3) Harbhajan Singh	RR	1) Michael Hussey 2) Suresh Raina	SRH	1) James Faulkner 2) Shane Watson
KXIP	1) Rohit Sharma 2) Harbhajan Singh	SRH	1) Michael Hussey 2) MS Dhoni	RCB	1) Shane Watson 2) Sanju Samson
CSK	1) Mitchell Johnson 2) Pragyan Ojha	KKR	1) Michael Hussey 2) Suresh Raina	PWI	1) Rahul Dravid 2) Ajinkya Rahane 3) Stuart Binny
KKR	1) Sachin Tendulkar 2) Mitchell Johnson 3) Harbhajan Singh	PWI	1) Suresh Raina 2) MS Dhoni 3) Mohit Sharma	DD	1) Rahul Dravid 2) Ajinkya Rahane
PWI	1) Mitchell Johnson 2) Rohit Sharma	KXIP	1) Suresh Raina 2) Dwayne Bravo	KXIP	1) Kevon Cooper 2) Ajinkya Rahane 3) Sanju Samson
SRH	1) Sachin Tendulkar 2) Kieron Pollard	SRH	1) Suresh Raina 2) Michael Hussey	CSK	1) Shane Watson 2) Stuart Binny
RR	1) Aditya Tare 2) Mitchell Johnson	DD	1) MS Dhoni 2) Dwayne Bravo	SRH	1) Vikramjeet Malik 2) Brad Hodge
RR	1) Harbhajan Singh 2) Dwayne Smith	MI	1) Michael Hussey 2) Suresh Raina 3) Dwayne Bravo

 

(Source: Cricinfo.com)

Here you have it folks, the cards are in front of you. I know you all must be wondering what’s so special about these statistics. Well, see the names carefully. Alright, enough of staring at names done. Let me get straight to the point. Have a look at some observations mentioned below:

·         Let’s start with Mumbai team. Their match winner includes 8 international players & 1 unheard, unknown domestic player.

·         Chennai’s match winner includes 6 international players & 1 unheard, unknown domestic player.

·         And now, ladies & gentleman, Royals match winner includes 2 international retired players (Dravid & Hodge), 2 upcoming international players (Rahane & Faulkner), the MVP (Watson) & 5 domestic, unheard & unknown players.

(The statutory warning mentioned earlier is mostly applicable for these statistics, as there is no element of biasness involved while choosing match winners)

That’s something the Royals have always banked upon. They have always performed as one unit, as one team. They have stood up to all the challenges and took them with a brave heart. After all ups & downs that the Royals went through, reaching till the playoffs was a feat achieved by them. Not just reaching the playoffs, but also their performance against Mumbai in the 2^nd Eliminator at Eden Gardens. They fought hard & hard till the last ball. Who thought that the match will go right down the last ball. Everyone thought that this game would be a one-sided affair, but no sir, the Royals fought hard and got the sweat out of the likes of Pollard, Sharma, Malinga & Johnson. We could also see the nervous face of the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar who didn’t play because of an injury. The point is, there are so many lessons that can be learnt from this team. Never say die attitude is the key to Royals success.

After yesterday’s game, Royals have wiped out the stains of spot fixing & has won many hearts across the globe. It would be an interesting survey to understand how many people have started liking Royals after yesterday’s hard fought match. Well, I guess, we’ll have to wait and watch till CLT20 comes. I am sure by then, Royals will regroup & work hard towards grabbing their first ever CLT20 cup. Halla Bol!!