By Shashi Agarwal
Rajasthan Royals have announced that Shane Watson will be their captain for this year’s IPL.Rahul Dravid will be their mentor.Dravid will be involved in strategy making , guiding and developing the youth.
Rajasthan Royals has always been a team which has relied on performance as a unit.Though they always had some stars in their line up, but the key was a collective effort.Shane Watson has been with this team since the inaugral edition of the tournament, where he was the pillar of the team.His efforts in the IPL led him to fight back into the Australian squad.
Why Watson??
He has been with the team since the first edition and knows the team better than any other player.He is more familiar with the coaching team and staffs and had developed better relations with them over the years. Though, he might look over aggressive, but when it comes to performance in the limited overs, there is never a doubt over it.So captain leadinf from the front definetely applies on him. Adding to it , he has been very composed when it comes to handling the juniors , something which Sanju Samson said in public.,The fact that he will be available for the entire tournament makes the choice more obvious.. Also , he has got experience of captaincy( though not on a regular basis) for Australia and was the vice-captain for quite a bit of time. Working under the likes of Dravid and Warne in the Royals line up must have given him some of the tricks of the trade when it comes to captaincy.
Other options
Royals also had the options of Rahane and Hodge. But conseidering the fact that Rahane is too young for this and lacks the experience when it comes to leading the side, they opted the other way.Adding extra responsibilities might cause his batting. On the other hand , Hodge is very experienced but might not find a regular place in the 11, something to take with the limited number of players in the 11. His struggles against the spinners is world known and he might lose his place on the turners.
Overall, Watson seems to be the best option and lets hope that he can replicate the inaugral edition for the Royals.
HALLA BOL!
VOTE
[poll id=”3″]
