As Rajasthan Royals (RR) were dumped out of the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoff race, former India batter Abhinav Mukund lashed out at the management, blaming their poor auction strategy behind the early exit from the top four race. Mukund, a former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) played criticised the RR management for going overspending on batters, including 14-year-old prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi, at the mega auction in Jeddah last year. He also said that RR didn’t focus enough on their bowling combination, which led to their downfall.
“Their one good bowler, the one they have spent most money on, is Archer. Unfortunately, their Indian pick did not go well. Tushar Deshpande, who was benched for this particular game, was bought for a lot of money (Rs 6.75 crore). Then again, you had three plus one something that you invested in two more Indian batters, Nitish Rana and Vaibhav Suryavanshi,” Mukund told ESPNcricinfo.
Mukund pointed out that RR’s bowling has been their weaklink, unlike like season when they had the likes of Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal and Trent Boult.
“How much ever I think, I would have still not bought Vaibhav Suryavanshi for Rs 1.1 crore, and Nitish Rana for INR 3 crore (Rs 4.2 crore). I would have invested that money in a couple of good bowlers. Look at their bowling last year, forget the big names, you still got Avesh Khan, Chahal, Ashwin, Trent Boult, and Sandeep Sharma, these are five bankable proper bowler,” he added.
RR lost by 100 runs to MI, who won a sixth-straight game to go top of the table.
Nitish Rana (9), skipper Riyan Parag (16), Shimron Hetmyer (0), Shubham Dubey (15) and Dhruv Jurel (11) fell like flies, leaving the team teetering at 76-7 at the end of the ninth over.
England’s Jofra Archer offered a glimmer of hope, hitting 30 runs off 27 balls, but ultimately fell, leaving the Rajasthan Royals far short of their target.
(With AFP Inputs)
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