Rajasthan Royals head coach Rahul Dravid on Friday admitted that death bowling has been a cause for concern for the franchise in the ongoing IPL but backed his bowlers to execute their plans better in the upcoming games. RR leaked more than 70 runs in the last five overs of their last two matches against Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals. “We suffered a little bit with our death bowling. We conceded 77 in the last five, in the last game. The game earlier, we conceded 72.
“I think that is another area for us that we need to get slightly better with, working with slightly more in execution I think our plans have been pretty good. It is just more around the execution of some of those skills,” Dravid said on the eve of their match against Lucknow Super Giants.
The Royals will be desperate to halt a three-match losing streak against the Super Giants on Saturday and a better performance by their bowlers in the back end of the innings could go a long way in achieving that goal.
“Even if, say for example, a 57-60 sort of thing is acceptable in the last five overs, it has become almost a norm now. We seem to go for 72-77 (runs).
“It has been those two-three extra boundaries which I think we need to work on and we need to get better at. But it is more an execution issue. I think the quality is there.” The decision to use Sandeep Sharma ahead of Jofra Archer for the Super Over in the game against DC surprised many, and so was their move to send Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer, but Dravid took ownership of the calls made by the team this season.
“The decisions are being made by me and with Sanju Samson being an integral part of that and consultation with our other coaches and our analyst team,” Dravid said.
“No one claims that every decision that even experts make works out and is correct. But I respect the fact and I am very confident of the team that I have around me that is supporting me and Sanju in making these decisions.
“With regards to the specific one on Jofra and Sandeep, Sandeep is someone that we trust. He has been bowling some fantastic overs for us. He has bowled all the difficult overs for us in this tournament. And we completely back him and support him and we felt he was the right bowler for us on that wicket in those conditions with the skills that he has.” The departure of players such as Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal meant RR had to get used to a new combination at the top and also with their spin attack.
Dravid said, “See, it’s not like that. “If you see our opening partnership, they have given us quite good performances. Yashasvi and Sanju are playing well. Even in the last game, they gave us an explosive start.
“Unfortunately, Sanju had an injury and he had to retire hurt. I won’t say it was the turning point because we had confidence in the other batters. But definitely, they gave a great partnership.
“As for the other players (Ashwin and Chahal), it happens in every big auction with every team. You don’t always get the same team, sometimes you need to make changes, sometimes those changes are forced.
“Auctions have some rules and you have to follow them. It’s not like a state team, where you just pick the players you want. There are some rules. But we believe that the players we have picked, it’s a good team.”
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