Richard Krajicek, whose name I noticed for the first time a little deep into the 1996 edition of the Wimbledon (at the quarterfinal stage of the tournament to be precise), went on to win the singles title that year. He had beaten Pete Sampras in the quarterfinals which was also Sampras’s only singles defeat at the Wimbledon between 1993 and 2000! Krajicek defeated Malivai Washington of the USA in straight sets in a one-sided final. The name ‘Krajicek’ was a bit of a struggle to pronounce those days but the Dutch had quite a few fans and followers instantly. If you thought his heroics at the Wimbledon were a sign of things to come, you would have necessarily been disappointed. Richard Krajicek never won a major title nor entered the final of one ever since, with the Wimbledon being a ‘one off’.
If you are a Rajasthan Royals supporter in the IPL, your feeling right now might be similar to what the ‘Krajicek fans’ experienced in the late 90’s. There is something enchanting about the ‘underdogs’ in sport and when the Royals punched above their weight and won the title in the inaugural year of the Indian Premier League under the charismatic Shane Warne, one would have expected the team to do a lot better than what it managed in the nine years since then (the franchise was banned for two years). Although it is one of the five teams to have won more matches than they have lost in the entire history of the league, that piece of statistics becomes an ironic contradiction to the impact it has had over the years. The team seems to be content to live with the tag of ‘underdogs’ perennially, and one would know why, when one takes a quick look at the following facts.
Rajasthan have not played a single final since winning the title in 2008 and, therefore, remains the only title winning team not to have made it to another final. While the Hyderabad franchise - Deccan Chargers in 2009 and Sunrisers Hyderabad in 2016 - won the title twice, it also was the runner up in the 2018 edition. The Kolkata Knight Riders made two final appearances winning both. Mumbai have played the finals on five occasions, winning the title four times. Chennai have won the title three times but what gives them the tag of being the most consistent team in IPL is that it also ended up being the runners-up five times! The Super Kings have been listless in 2020 so far and it will be interesting to see if they manage to turn it around from here.
Many term Rajasthan’s success in 2008 as a flash in the pan and the fact that the team has made it to the playoffs only three times since winning the title, strengthens that argument. Rajasthan started the 2020 edition with a bang and seem to have made Sharjah their impregnable fortress, like they made Jaipur on occasions, but good performances at one venue alone wouldn’t take them all the way. The team has struggled to figure out its best playing XI and they would know that the time is running out.
The Royals must be feeling relieved that it managed to arrest the losing streak, with the win against Hyderabad on Sunday, but their concerns will be far from over. Despite the win, the top order crumbled and that remains a worry for the Royals. His touch seems to have deserted Smith and all eyes will be on Sanju Samson in the coming few matches. He has certainly started to get branded as an enigma who takes the tournament by storm in the initial phase and almost inexplicably fades away after that, year after year. Many suffer from the ‘fear of failure’ but could it be a ‘fear of success’ in Sanju’s case? The Indian Premier League, a dream platform for young bright talents to shine and be counted instantly, could also be a pressure cooker for many. The young man from Kerala has been in it for long enough to know how to manage it, one would imagine, and it’s highly imperative for him to turn it around, for that will also determine how much the ‘Team India door’ will open for him.
Any limited overs side in the world would love to have Ben Stokes in its ranks and he has just joined the team. He would require some time to start firing and the team would hope he gets going sooner than later. Can Stokes bring a new stroke of luck to the Royals? One hopes he does, else it will be another ‘also ran’ year for the team and yet another “let’s wait for the next year” time for its fans. Will the ‘Summer of 2008’ happen again?