IPL 2020: MI vs RR Game Plan 1 – Have Rajasthan messed up their batting order?

The twentieth match of the IPL 2020 tournament between the blockbuster teams, Mumbai Indians and Rajasthan Royals, could all be about match-ups. We take a look at a key game plan that could play a role in the twentieth game of IPL 2020 – MI vs RR.

MI vs RR Game Plan 1 – Are the Royals too Top-Heavy?

Rajasthan Royals have put all their eggs in one basket, and it has cost them dearly. A top three of Jos Buttler, Steve Smith and Sanju Samson is great on paper; but when they fail, it appears like everything goes downhill after that. We saw in a previous game-plan that RR is among the most top-heavy sides since 2018 and when their three best batsmen all bat up the order, it leaves them in quite a sorry state when they don’t perform.

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The games in Sharjah saw fifties from Smith and Samson against both CSK and KXIP. But the transition to Dubai and Abu Dhabi later didn’t quite occur, and collectively, the top-three scored 32 and 31 in these games.

There is a case for splitting the top-three and accommodating one of Yashasvi Jaiswal or Manan Vohra at the top of the order. This would effectively demote Steve Smith to 3 and Sanju Samson to 4. Jaiswal, being a left hander, gives variety to the top-order while Vohra is someone who has experienced cricket at this level before, and that gives good enough arguments to play either one of them.

A few stats as well encourage the move to demote the Royals’ skipper and their premier Indian batsman down a slot. In the IPL, Steve Smith averages 45 batting at one-drop – his best average at any position. Although he has batted more than 10 innings at each position from 3 to 6, his best performances come while batting at number three.

Will Smith and Samson score big in MI vs RR clash?

Sanju Samson has an abysmal record at 4 in the IPL. 372 runs from 21 innings at an average of 19 is simply unacceptable for someone who has so much talent, but as his record shows, he has flattered to deceive many a time in his career. The reason behind him at 4, however, is the way he has batted this season. He strikes at 150 during his first five balls this IPL; the only top-order batsmen to score faster are Nicholas Pooran and Rohit Sharma.

The ability to start quick is important for a number four, and two more requirements are to be adept against spin in the middle overs and to score quickly at the death. Sanju Samson checks both boxes. He has scored an insane 101 runs from 46 balls of spin this year, at a scoring rate of 13.17 and only been dismissed once. Sure, a majority of these runs have come at Sharjah, but the way he’s played can’t be dismissed entirely just because of the “Sharjah factor.”

Since 2017, only 4 batsmen score faster than Samson at the death. Those batsmen are Faf du Plessis, AB de Villiers, Eoin Morgan and Andre Russell. Not a bad list to be part of. This is a key pre-requisite of a number-four batsman and Samson has done really well in this regard as well. With the game he brings, it’s tough to see how he hasn’t succeeded at this position yet, but he definitely has the skills to do so.