2 (18)

0:

This season is proving to be the toughest for Rajasthan Royals, the inaugural IPL Champions. Ranked 6th in the IPL 2021 table, the team has been left short-handed as majority of their overseas marquee players have been ruled out. After Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Liam Livingstone being ruled out due to different reasons, Australian Pacer Andrew Tye has now become the latest RR player to withdraw himself, due to fatigue in the bio-bubble tournament.   

Having said that, in this article we would look at the top 5 bowlers who can replace Andre Tye in RR for IPL 2021:

  • Mark Wood

One of England’s premium limited over bowlers is Mark Wood. He has been associated with the IPL in the 2018 edition and was part of the winning franchise- Chennai Super Kings. Wood usually bowls at an average pace of 135.60kph in the shortest format, which is relatively faster than Andre Tye.  

Knowing that Mustafizur Rahman is the only overseas pace bowler left in the Rajasthan Royals squad, Mark Wood could use his experience to guide other young bowlers in the squad as well. 

  • Ashton Agar 

The Australian player was seen merely as a left-arm off spinner who could bat a bit in the limited over format. But his recent performances in the domestic league as well as for Australia has made him a prominent figure in the international arena. 

In 32 matches for Australia, Agar has taken 38 wickets at an economy of 6.87 runs per over. His all-round ability could give a lot of flexibility to their squad, while also giving RR the chance to experiment with their young Indian pacers in the starting XI. 

  • Tim Southee 

He used to be a regular feature in the IPL before his downfall in the shorter format commenced. However, Tim Southee could be seen as an ideal replacement for Andre Tye because of his recent performance in the T20 series against Australia. Southee was not only economical but also picked a lot of wickets. 

His ability to swing the ball early on in the innings can cause tremendous trouble to the opposition batsman. Southee has also worked on his pace to deliver ‘pin-point’ yorkers, which could come in handy at the death. 

  • Carlos Braithwaite 

The man who won West Indies their 2016 T20 World Cup, Carlos Braithwaite has immense ability to fill lots of loopholes of the Rajasthan Royals current starting XI. He has played in the IPL for 3 different franchises- Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kolkata Knight Riders and Delhi Capitals. 

Although he is a similar player to Chris Morris, having the same hard-hitting ability and bowling pace. Braithwaite’s inclusion into RR’s 2021 IPL squad could majorly strengthen their lower order batting department. 

  • Sheldon Cottrell 

The West Indian left-arm pacer was associated with the IPL when he was a part of the Punjab Kings in the previous edition. RR have found some form recently as was evident in their game against KKR. They played two left arm pacers, which proved to be a masterstroke. Sheldon Cottrell’s pace could be the cherry on top in this case as has the ability to variate his pace much like his compatriots DJ Bravo and Kemar Roach.