Rajasthan Royals edge closer to a reality they seek to run away from

In life, there is a tendency for people to want to run away from a certain demon – a demon that could manifest itself in various physical forms, mental blocks or indeed psychological obstacles. A lot of these individuals are taught that facing these problems form the essence of life and that only confronting your greatest fear leads to achieving the elixir of life.

From a pragmatic perspective, though, it is quite common for people to not want to look eye-to eye at elements that cloud their judgment and reduce their productivity. Instead, they try to bide their time, hoping that they gather the courage and wits to face that roadblock. And, of course, hoping that they ultimately overcome it too.

In cricketing jargon, it correlates to how certain teams develop the wood over others and always enjoy more success, despite cricketing logic not particularly pointing in that direction. There are also situations where outfits repeatedly falter at a specific hurdle and never really come to grips with it.

Well, at least until they get past it and develop a blueprint before the next round of obstacles, which like waves, always come quicker than its predecessors.

At this moment, the Rajasthan Royals perhaps find themselves entrenched in a similar predicament, for they have, rather annoyingly for their faithful, found ways to lose the plot in crunch clashes.

They’ve not just lost matches, mind you. They’ve done so while making people wonder how a team can seemingly glide over the highest cloud and then suddenly come crashing down to earth – all in a space of a few days.

Rajasthan Royals were humbled by MI at Sharjah

In their most recent rekindling of the same, they succumbed to the Mumbai Indians, despite having won 3 of their past 5 games against the opposition and seeming indomitable at Sharjah just a year ago.

More worryingly, it was the sort of display that completely sucks momentum out of any multi-team campaign. And, with the Rajasthan Royals now relying on the most preemptive of calculations and longing for the most divine of interventions, they might be better served introspecting how things regularly fall apart from the seams, especially when the pressure is raised up a notch.

Way back in 2014, when Rahul Dravid was installed in a coaching/mentor capacity by the Rajasthan Royals, they seemed one of the more well-rounded teams in the IPL. They had devised mechanisms to optimize the resources at their disposal and they hardly missed a beat throughout the competition.

Prior to their final fixture, they only needed to ensure that they lost by a small enough margin to stay ahead of the Mumbai Indians on Net Run Rate. Had they won, the calculators would’ve remained in the cold storage but the fact they had the luxury of qualifying, despite losing, emphasized their position of strength.

Yet, on that evening at the Wankhede Stadium, things broke, rather thuddingly. Not only did the Rajasthan Royals lose that encounter against MI, the latter hauled down a 190-run target and did so in the requisite time frame to dump the Rajasthan Royals out of the IPL.

The lasting image from that night is of Dravid throwing his cap away in disgust after James Faulkner – one of their experienced campaigners, had bowled two rank full tosses in the final over. Previously, in the 12th over (to be specific), Shane Watson had conceded 18 runs and had contrived to bring the equation down to 33 off 15 balls.

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Sanju Samson has failed to power the Rajasthan Royals to IPL glory (Pic Credits: New Indian Express)

Since that edition, the Rajasthan Royals have made the IPL play-offs twice but have succumbed in the Eliminator. In 2015, the Royal Challengers Bangalore were responsible, whereas the Kolkata Knight Riders consigned the Rajasthan Royals to a similar fate in 2018.

In both games, though, there was a lack of conviction on the Rajasthan Royals’ part – a shortcoming that only comes to the fore when teams are unsure on how to handle pressure and aren’t confident enough in their own abilities or that their style of cricket would get them over the line.

In 2019, the Rajasthan Royals missed out on qualification by a solitary point. When they travelled to Delhi for their final fixture, though, they couldn’t have guaranteed themselves a better shot at the title. However, they scratched their way to 115 in their stipulated 20 overs – a target the Delhi Capitals hunted down with ease.

A year later, they were in with more than a shout, despite falling off a cliff during the middle phases of the IPL. The Rajasthan Royals only required a commanding victory against KKR.

Yet, they conceded 191 in the first innings and then lost four wickets in the opening four overs of their batting innings, meaning that the dream of another IPL title quickly gave way to reality – a reality that screamed out about their inability to tackle pressure situations.

Interestingly enough, the Rajasthan Royals, despite the notion of having a young side, have had several veterans to lean upon during such troughs. Unfortunately, none has really managed to buck the trend and propel the Rajasthan Royals to where they want to be.

Back in 2014, Faulkner and Watson were guilty for letting the game slip, whereas that blame might fall on the likes of Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer Jos Buttler, Steve Smith (in 2020) and David Miller, Evin Lewis and Sanju Samson (in 2021).

Though Miller tried to face adversity against MI at Sharjah on Tuesday, he and Rahul Tewatia only delayed the inevitable, rather than laying the foundation for a remarkable turnaround.

In fact, it is quite revealing that Kumar Sangakkara hinted that the problem was with how the Rajasthan Royals approached the game. And, when a former cricketer of Sangakkara’s ilk comes up with such an assessment, it perhaps says a lot about how far the Rajasthan Royals have to traverse before reclaiming their past glory.

Funnily enough, it isn’t as if the Rajasthan Royals are unaware of this current malaise – a malaise that almost always materializes when push comes to shove. It has become more about how they have still not evolved a mechanism to keep their emotions in check and find a method that maximizes the potential in their ranks.

Over the years, not many teams have provided as many ebbs, flows and excitement as the Rajasthan Royals. Their brand of cricket, which can be mesmerizing at times, and equally mediocre on other occasions, has been a constant theme too.

As far as winning titles is concerned, though, they might just have to shelve their proclivity of being exceptional on one day and being considerably ordinary on days that matter. And, until that happens, it will always feel that the Rajasthan Royals are edging closer to a reality they seek to run away from.