A fortnight ago, Rajasthan Royals, with 16 points in nine matches, were just a win away from sealing their entry into the IPL playoffs. They have played 12 matches now, but they are still a win away from securing a playoff spot having suffered three defeats on the trot.

Their destiny is very much in their hands, but with their final league game being against table-toppers Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) — the only team so far to confirm passage to the playoffs — they wouldn’t want to push it that far. A win in their next game against Punjab Kings (PBKS) becomes imperative then as they seek a top-two berth to get a second shot at making the final.

Having won eight of their first nine matches, a blip in recent days was perhaps unavoidable in a tournament as long as the IPL. Things would have been different, of course, had they not suffered a one-run loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad on May 2. Close finishes are inevitable in the format though and two further defeats have applied a hint of pressure on the Royals.

At the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday, they were thoroughly outplayed by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on a slow track suitable to the home side. The game swung decisively in the first half itself as Rajasthan were restricted to a subpar 141/5. In reply, CSK needed just 18.2 overs for a five-wicket win.

“We expected the pitch to be slow. We expected it to get slower as the game went on. It did exactly that. We lacked a lot of intent through the middle. Even in the first six overs, there were a few balls that could have been put away. We lost momentum with all those dot balls. We were 30 runs short. It was the lack of intent with our batting that was the real issue for us,” RR head coach Kumar Sangakkara told reporters after the game.

The pedestrian tone to RR’s innings was set by openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler managing only 42 runs in the first six overs. They are among the most destructive combinations on paper, but partnerships this season have been a tad underwhelming. Only two fifty-plus opening stands have been registered in 12 matches while an average run rate of 8.84 in the Powerplay means as many as six teams are scoring faster in that phase.

If this is a concern, the bigger concern is Buttler's absence for the playoffs — he has to lead the England team in four T20Is against Pakistan starting May 22 — assuming RR get there. Never mind the opening partnership not quite producing fireworks, Buttler’s individual contribution has been faultless — he has 359 runs at an average just under 40 and a strike rate of 140.78. And as his unbeaten 107 to help RR chase down 224 against KKR showed, he is capable of winning matches from positions that others can’t even envisage.

RR bowling coach Shane Bond doesn’t want Buttler’s imminent departure to be used as an excuse. “Of course, he is one of the world's best players. So, it is obviously a loss. But that's what you build a squad for,” he had said in Delhi last week. “We certainly feel like we have got a really strong squad and whoever comes in for Jos is going to do a job for us. We are aware of the implications of losing a player. We are not the only team which will be affected. We have contingencies in place. It's part and parcel of having an IPL before the World Cup.”

Another factor in RR's slide is the dip in returns of spinners Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin. While Chahal has only taken two wickets in his last four games, Ashwin has claimed seven in the entire campaign. The lack of wickets in the middle overs brings additional pressure on left-arm pacer Trent Boult to strike with the new ball, which also hasn’t been happening in recent games. “Ash and Yuzi have been brilliant for us for 3 years. Yuzi has had a tough few games. We have worked a lot with him to get his confidence back up and for him to really understand how good he is,” Sangakkara said.

As the mad scramble to make the playoffs commences in the business end of the tournament, the message that the RR camp needs to reinforce is to stick to the methods that put them in a commanding position a fortnight ago. Trust Sangakkara to do exactly that.

“We have had quite a few opportunities to put games away. We lost a few from commanding positions, the one against Sunrisers and the one against GT early on,” Sangakkara said on Sunday. “And that happens in T20 cricket. It’s about making sure that we keep playing to our plans and making sure that we always take positive, good options. A lot of it in cricket is just about recognising those big moments.”

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