PRESS CONFERENCE
Follow UsNo one knows how differently the Qualifier 2 result between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) would have turned out with Jos Buttler's presence. The talismanic English skipper has always had a larger-than-life presence for the franchise, and even this season, in which he was going through a difficult streak, his second-inning performance was just mesmerising.
In seven run-chases, Buttler had scored 308 runs at an average of 61.6 and a strike rate of 157.9 this season before leaving to join the England camp. He even went on to score two centuries in that phase. In his absence, another Englishman in the form of Tom Kohler-Cadmore was entrusted with the responsibility of opening alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal, but that didn’t work out quite well.
RR’s Director of Cricket, Kumar Sangakkara, admitted that not having Buttler was a big loss but agreed that others had to step up as well.
"We always say that the best ability is availability and unfortunately, we lost Jos. He is a big loss, without a doubt. When you're in playoffs like this and you've got that start without Jos, we expect the other batters to also step up," Sangakkara said in the post-match press conference.
"I think all of us wanted to get over 45 runs in that powerplay minimum and we got 51. TKC couldn't really get going but Jaiswal made up for it in that Bhuvi over. Once you hit 51, it's just a case of batting and batting, and once you don't lose wickets, the pressure is always on the opposition - whether you've to chase 12 runs an over in the last five with wickets in hand, it is not difficult to do as we saw today as well.
“It was just a case of being smart and keeping our composure. Unfortunately, when you lose wickets in clusters, it becomes hard. Even in the RCB chase, if you lose wickets, it gets tense and close. Unfortunately, we needed a little bit more from our middle order."
This can be called a season of contrast for Rajasthan Royals. While Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) made it to the top four after a solid comeback in the second half of the tournament, the Royals, who had won seven of their first eight matches, had to take a difficult route this time. Sangakkara, however, stated that the morale was never down despite losses and it was all about performing on that particular day.
"I think it was a great season for us. We started really well and then we lost a close game to SRH in Hyderabad and [in] Delhi also we put ourselves in winning positions," Sangakkara said.
"Sometimes you have streaks, RCB lost almost every game at the start and then caught up. That's how T20 goes. All we can do is put ourselves in positions of playoffs and vying for finals which we did. I think all the guys throughout the season played really phenomenal cricket. There was a little bit of fatigue, of course, at the back end, but it doesn't really matter when you're in games like this, you gotta just turn up and perform."
"Confidence and morale are just about our preparation. I mentioned RCB: they won everything at the backend, lost everything at the front, and then lost to us in the crucial playoffs. It doesn't really matter once you're in a playoff game. It's just about performing well on the day."
While Trent Boult was in his usual threatening self throughout the season, the Royals also had a lot to thank Avesh Khan and Sandeep Sharma for the way they ensured things were in order. The quartet of Avesh, Sandeep, Boult, and Yuzvendra Chahal accounted for 66 wickets between themselves to minimize the impact of Ravichandran Ashwin’s average season with the ball.
Speaking on Avesh, Sangakkara said, "First of all, it was a really good trade we did (On bringing Avesh Khan from Lucknow Super Giants). We had the opportunity to trade DDP [Devdutt Padikkal to LSG]. Padikkal was a great servant of RR. He did a great job for us but we needed a fast bowler and we traded for Avesh because we knew how good he was and he's shown that throughout this tournament.
"And that's why he's a travelling reserve as well for the World Cup for India. He's got a great presence and good clarity, he's very good at finishing off in the death. And I think he's been phenomenal for RR. And we couldn't ask for a better trier. He bowls a lot in training, he's always up for a game. I thought again today he was outstanding."
The RR Director of Cricket also praised Sandeep Sharma, who evolved beyond the recognition of being a powerplay specialist to embrace death bowling wholeheartedly.
"I think it is just a case of changing his role. We know that a lot of sides used him up front but with his pace and his skill, we kind of identified that he will be effective for us through the middle and the backend and that's what we've tasked him with," Sangakkara said.
"We didn't have the services of Prasidh Krishna, Navdeep Saini was injured and came back halfway through the season. And for two seasons now Sandeep has been absolutely outstanding for us.
“He's just a mature cricketer, he knows exactly what he can and can't do. He sticks to the basics; he tries to swing the new ball, and when he's out of it, just changes of pace are really good. I think the percentage of effective Yorkers is over double the IPL bowler average for a right-hander. So he's got incredible skill and we're very, very lucky to have him,” the Sri Lankan said.
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