IPL 2018, RR vs KKR: 5 Talking Points

#4 D’Arcy Short’s struggles against spin curtail the Royals

D’Arcy Short came into this IPL with a huge reputation of someone who can demolish bowlers right from the start of an innings. He was scintillating in the BBL recently for the Hobart Hurricanes based on which Rajasthan Royals showed faith in him and bought him at the player’s auction.

He is used to the fast, bouncy pitches on offer in home conditions in Australia. He looked really good for Australia in his T20I debut in familiar conditions in New Zealand and Australia. But his vulnerability and struggles to play spin would be tested when he plays in the IPL.

And after three failures, it was good to see the Royals show faith in this young talent. But sadly, he just never looked comfortable playing spin. KKR bought on the spinners right away, thereby never allowing Short to get going. He ate away too many deliveries.

He never could get momentum into his innings. He couldn’t rotate the strike which disrupted the flow of the RR innings. And it’s fair to say that despite D’Arcy Short managing to get past the 100 strike rate at the end of the innings, it affected the flow of the RR batting line up as every other batsman had to force the issue right from the start.