Royals look at Morris for turnaround
Jofra Archer’s injury puts the Rajasthan franchise on tenterhooks
Hyderabad: Rajasthan Royals has had a roller-coaster ride in the Indian Premier League so far. After a stunning inaugural season in 2008, where they won the trophy against all odds under Shane Warne captaincy, Royals fail to come close to replicating the show. With the new season set to start from April 9, the franchise banks its hopes in South African all-rounder Chris Morris for whom they shelled out a record price of Rs 16.5 crore in the mini auctions last month.
That price made him the costliest player in the history of IPL auctions. They surprised everyone by letting go of their captain and former Australian skipper Steve Smith. They have given the leadership role to youngster Sanju Samson. Royals, who entered the playoffs just three occasions, however suffered a huge blow ahead of the season kick-off.
Their premier bowler Jofra Archer, who was the Most Valuable Player in the last season where Royals finished at the bottom, suffered an injury to his elbow during the limited-over series against India recently and he is set to miss the start of the season. There is no clarity from when he will be available for them. So, the franchise will depend on Morris to deliver the goods and do justice to his price tag.
They had a good beginning to the last season winning their first two games. However, from there on, their journey dipped south. They managed just six wins to finish with the wooden spoon. But there were some brilliant performers en route. They found new heroes in Rahul Tewatia and Riyan Parag who became overnight sensations.
Their chances in the new season will cling to the performances of their star foreign players like Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, arguably the best all-rounder in the world and Morris. It will be interesting to see how Samson copes with the new responsibility of leading the side. But he had a lot of experience in the side in Buttler, Stokes, Morris who can come to his rescue in hours of need.
Jofra Archer
Bangladesh pacer Mustafizur Rahman has been granted NOC by the Bangladesh Cricket Board and he will be available as well in the bowling department which has Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat. There is no doubt that Royals have the fire power in their ranks. But a lot will depend on how consistent their famed foreign group performs. The franchise will have a new director of cricket in the highly successful Sri Lankan player Kumar Sangakkara.
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