Solving the middle-order crisis of the Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan Royals have made an incredible beginning in the 13th edition of the IPL. They've won 2 out of the first 3 matches and are in the third position on the table. One of the essential reasons why they are performing over the normal level is Sanju Samson.

The Kerala-born batsman has just got two Man of the Match and was the medium in both their successes. Another batsman who has been among the runs for RR is skipper Steve Smith. He already scored two fifties this season. Besides, he has been opening for RR in IPL 2020, something he had never done before in his cricket career. That makes it considerably worthier.

The batting order of RR

Jos Buttler missed the first match because of self-quarantine. Buttler has played the last two games for RR. Yet he hasn't had the option to hit the ball as pleasantly as he has been hitting for the past 2 seasons. However, the RR fans believe Jos Buttler will score lots of runs this season. That implies that they have formed a core of 3 top-notch batsmen.

Ben Stokes was an imperative part of their middle-order for the last two seasons. However, he has been inaccessible so far for personal reasons. This has left RR's batting order looking awkward. In their 3rd match against KKR, the game was lost when KKR dismissed Buttler, Samson, and Smith. This is a stressing sign for the Royals if they need to move to the next phases of IPL.

The stats harden the fact that Rajasthan Royals have a feeble middle-order. Tewatia's records aren't terrible, yet they are riding on the 5 sixes he scored in one over against KXIP. Uthappa and Parag have had three chances to score runs however they failed to score. David Miller played the first match instead of Jos Buttler and was run out before confronting a ball sadly.

So how would they take care of this issue?

Option 1 - David Miller in for Tom Curran

This is one of the tactics they can use to add some excitement to their middle-order. Miller can bat two-down after Sanju Samson and coming before Robin Uthappa. As the right-handed batsmen surround him, he will include a great deal of significance with his left-handed batting skills.

Additionally, Miller can go about in the tournament as a finisher if the openers and Samson scored a decent measure of runs. He has the ideal combo and balance of explosiveness and levelheadedness, which is required in the middle order.

Option 2 - Yashasvi Jaiswal in for Riyan Parag

Riyan Parag has had some dull shows with the bat this season. He is the all-rounder of the team for this season. But since they, as of now, have six bowling alternatives apart from him, he has recently bowled only one over until now. The six other options are him Curran, Archer, Rajpoot, Unadkat, Tewatia, Gopal. Parag doesn't offer as much an incentive as a batsman like Yashasvi Jaiswal.

They should rearrange their setup for this option to work. Jaiswal should open the innings with Buttler. Samson and Smith can bat at number 3 and number 4. Uthappa and Tewatia can follow.

Many teams have used a young Indian batsman at the head of the innings, and it has turned out to be beneficial for the teams. Jaiswal is a skilled cricketer and offers the left hand-right hand mix at the head of the order, which is dangerous.

Taking everything into account, these are the most ideal ways RR could tackle their middle-order issues. We have perceived how a feeble middle-order can restrict the playing skills of a team. We can see RCB or SRH earlier as the example. Hence, now if RR targets the playoffs round, they need to solve this problem soon.

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