JAIPUR: No matter how conducive the circumstances are, Rajasthan have always failed to capitalise on them. Be it home advantage or winning the toss, nothing has worked for the team as the root cause of the problem — their batting, continues to hamper their progress in tournament after tournament.
Possibly playing their penultimate match of the domestic season 2021-22, when Ashok Menaria’s outfit will face giants Mumbai at the KL Saini Stadium on Saturday, only an overnight miraculous transformation in the batting department can save the hosts.
Newly-appointed Rajasthan chief coach Nikhil Doru feels the players need to bring in a change in the way they approach the domestic ODIs and the four-day games and set higher goals for themselves.
“We have talked about in our team meeting what’s plaguing our performance. While playing the T20s players have IPL selection in mind, while no batsman is looking beyond it. No player is aiming to make it to the Indian team and when you don’t have bigger goals, you are bound to under-perform,” Doru told TOI.
He also revealed that in the match against Mumbai, the team will look to make changes in the batting department.
Rajasthan are virtually out of the tournament, but mathematically they still stand an outside chance if they win both their remaining matches.
Former players are of the opinion that the problem lies in the poor infrastructure in Rajasthan. Former Rajasthan captain Rohit Jhalani said, “To have a solid infrastructure at the domestic level is very important if you wish to produce good batsmen. Why do batsmen from Mumbai and Delhi perform well? The answer is simple, first they have proper grounds and wickets to play on and cricket happens throughout the year which is not the case here in Rajasthan. For instance, there should be activities at the RCA Academy round the year,” said Jhalani.
Echoing Jhalani’s opinion, another ex-Rajasthan cricketer P Krishnakumar said, “Teams like Mumbai, Delhi and Karnataka play for 365 days while in Rajasthan we are not even playing for 100 days. The local cricket needs to be fixed to ensure we have good batsmen.” He is also of the opinion that Rajasthan should have one professional player who can lead the side. “We have so much talent here in the state, but to put things in order, an experienced hand can better manage and motivate youngsters to perform to their potential.”
Possibly playing their penultimate match of the domestic season 2021-22, when Ashok Menaria’s outfit will face giants Mumbai at the KL Saini Stadium on Saturday, only an overnight miraculous transformation in the batting department can save the hosts.
Newly-appointed Rajasthan chief coach Nikhil Doru feels the players need to bring in a change in the way they approach the domestic ODIs and the four-day games and set higher goals for themselves.
“We have talked about in our team meeting what’s plaguing our performance. While playing the T20s players have IPL selection in mind, while no batsman is looking beyond it. No player is aiming to make it to the Indian team and when you don’t have bigger goals, you are bound to under-perform,” Doru told TOI.
He also revealed that in the match against Mumbai, the team will look to make changes in the batting department.
Rajasthan are virtually out of the tournament, but mathematically they still stand an outside chance if they win both their remaining matches.
Former players are of the opinion that the problem lies in the poor infrastructure in Rajasthan. Former Rajasthan captain Rohit Jhalani said, “To have a solid infrastructure at the domestic level is very important if you wish to produce good batsmen. Why do batsmen from Mumbai and Delhi perform well? The answer is simple, first they have proper grounds and wickets to play on and cricket happens throughout the year which is not the case here in Rajasthan. For instance, there should be activities at the RCA Academy round the year,” said Jhalani.
Echoing Jhalani’s opinion, another ex-Rajasthan cricketer P Krishnakumar said, “Teams like Mumbai, Delhi and Karnataka play for 365 days while in Rajasthan we are not even playing for 100 days. The local cricket needs to be fixed to ensure we have good batsmen.” He is also of the opinion that Rajasthan should have one professional player who can lead the side. “We have so much talent here in the state, but to put things in order, an experienced hand can better manage and motivate youngsters to perform to their potential.”