Rajasthan back in familiar territory

Rajasthan Royals

	Home grown: Key to Rajasthan's fortunes are how well their domestic players, such as Swapnil Asnodkar, perform © Associated Press
Related Links Series/Tournaments: Indian Premier League Teams: India | Rajasthan Royals

No other team will be as thankful for the IPL's return to India as Rajasthan Royals. Back on flat pitches and facing low bounce, the likes of Yusuf Pathan and Swapnil Asnodkar become major weapons again. Then there are the Shanes, Warne for the entire season, and Watson for the later half. Also there is the home crowd that took to this Cinderella XI in the inaugural season. For a while now, Warne has been talking about how the inaugural IPL was the best cricketing time of his life, and how the home support was "amazing".

From March 13 onwards they will be in familiar territory: in India, and underdogs after their lukewarm performance in South Africa. And once again they will want considerable contribution from their Indian players, the cornerstone of their success in 2008. Yusuf, Asnodkar, Munaf Patel, Naman Ojha, Kamran Khan and Siddharth Trivedi - none of them is a superstar, none of them assured of a place in the Indian Twenty20 side. But under Warne, and with the likes of Graeme Smith, Watson, Morne Morkel, and Shaun Tait, they could well form a winning combination again.

The buzz

Warne's Twitter page has been abuzz. Hardly a day passes when he doesn't talk about longing for action or say "Go Royals". Damien Martyn, a new recruit, has started sledging him about baked beans. Despite Shilpa Shetty's presence, it's all about Warne there. The fingers are working well on Twitter, but how well is the wrist going with the ball after nearly a year of no competitive cricket?

New faces

Tait, Martyn and Englishman Michael Lumb have almost been handpicked by Warne. Tait has been in red-hot bowling form, but true to Rajasthan fashion, the other two come without many expectations of them. Delhi's Sumit Narwal and Bengal's Abhishek Jhunjhunwala are the domestic acquisitions. Of course, there are unknown faces who are not even big names in domestic cricket.

Watch out for

Graeme Smith played the anchor role to Watson's pyrotechnics in the first season, and was a failure in the second. In 2010, though, Rajasthan will look to him to come back to form, and more importantly be the lead batsman in Watson's absence for the first half of the season.

Missing in action

Ravindra Jadeja apparently tried to negotiate his own price after his contract ended, and is paying the price by sitting out the whole of the third season. "It's a shame re Jadeja not being part of the royals at IPL 3.. He is a good player for us. We will miss him!!! Shame," tweeted Warne.

X factor

Yusuf Pathan can turn matches around quickly. He will be back as one of the main batsmen of the team, as opposed to not quite being sure of his role in the Indian team. Don't count out a repeat of the first IPL.

Strength

The ability to surprise oppositions, and having two to three solid performers as fallback. Be it Yusuf opening the bowling, be it Asnodkar going bang bang at the top, be it somebody like Kamran with the ball, there is always a Warne to take care if the bowling goes wrong, or a Smith or Watson to control the batting. So Rajasthan, what's new this time?

Weakness

The batting looks thin till the time Watson joins the team. Yusuf and Asnodkar can be a bit of a lottery, and it would be one pleasant shock if Martyn, at 38, can come and make an impact in their middle order.

Prediction for 2010

Semi-finals, and then who knows?

IPL 2009 - the key figures:

Final position: sixth
Top scorer: Ravindra Jadeja with 295 runs at 26.81 and strike-rate of 110.9
Top wicket-taker: Munaf Patel with 16 wickets at 15.06 and economy-rate of 6.91
Best result: seven-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bangalore
Worst result: 75-run defeat to Royal Challengers Bangalore
Highest team score: 211 v Kings XI Punjab
Lowest team score: 58 v Royal Challengers Bangalore