“I think they haven’t really played good cricket there [in Jaipur], and I think that’s the only reason. I can’t think of anything else,” Dasgupta said on ESPNcricinfo TimeOut. “It’s a high-scoring venue. And if you look at their batting even last year, that was very top-heavy. Again, the middle order was a bit of an issue [and it is] this year as well. Dhruv Jurel has had an up-and-down kind of a season. So yeah, it’s just that you’ve got to play good cricket, and unfortunately, they haven’t at home.”
Archer, meanwhile, was breathing fire after settling down. From April 7 to May 1, he went eight games where he picked up at least a wicket. In the first game in Jaipur, too, he got two. But since then, he has gone 1 for 46 and 0 for 46.
“There’s not that lift and bounce [on offer] that there was at their previous home ground where Jofra was ripping people’s heads off,” McClenaghan said. “I think Jofra was getting some lateral movement as well, previous to this. It’s not conducive for genuine swing or lateral movement.”
“Oh, I got tired just watching it [that over]. Some endurance to get through that,” McClenaghan joked. “It wasn’t what they needed, obviously. No, 18 off the first over. Only half of that was off the bat. He just didn’t have the radar right. Sometimes that happens to players when they’re coming back from a break [RR were playing after an eight-day gap]. They lose their rhythm. But yeah, it just wasn’t on the mark. It didn’t look crisp.”
“We just haven’t played well enough in conditions that we know. We’ve been outplayed by our opposition,” Bond said. “I look at bowlers, they just have to be better, right? You’ve got to think a bit outside the box. There’s two things: decision-making and execution. I think tonight, you would have probably noticed that execution just wasn’t consistent enough for long enough. And I think if you look across the board in the IPL, that’s just been the case.
“The batsmen, they’re coming out, they’re playing ultra-aggressive, and putting pressure on bowlers. So as a bowler, you’ve got to ask, well, ‘what can I do differently?’ [They] have got to spend more time with the analysts knowing exactly where each batsman’s going to… the zones they’re going to score at. I may have to bowl off a shorter run and a longer run. I’ve got to be able to come around the wicket and bowl on both sides.
“So, when you see the bowlers are doing the same thing, game after game after game after game, getting the same result, then my question would be: you’ve got to be doing something different and developing your game. You look at batsmen now, they’re playing the uppercut, they’re reversing, they’re scooping. They’ve developed a range of shots. So a bowler has to develop their range of skills as well. I think it’s a great opportunity for any bowler to go: ‘if I can do that, then I can elevate myself into, you know, a lot of money and be a superstar’. I just don’t think you’ve consistently seen that across the board.
“It’s certainly not easy for the bowlers, but you can either fear it, fear what’s going on out there, or see it as an opportunity to get better and maybe put your name up in lights.”
