That is why what he and the Royals achieved was remarkable. He ran a tight ship and they scrapped for every run. He couldn’t afford an over where his bowler conceded 24 because he didn’t always have a batsman who could reply in kind. Ravindra Jadeja was excellent but he is a work in progress and Yusuf Pathan was always having to drag them out of a crisis. One day, and the day is not too far away, these two will show how much this experience has helped them. Like guerrilla fighters, his boys crept up on the opposition and often ambushed them; they played free spirited cricket and they knew no fear. It was magnificent to watch Naman Ojha win a game, Abhishek Raut win another, Kamran Khan bowl the super over, Amit Singh take the new ball.....why, he even got Munaf Patel to bowl the last over and deliver! But the pistol can only beat the artillery in an ambush, in open warfare you need the big gun.

But for all the romance surrounding Rajasthan you have to ask why they chose to play with this team. The power of the mind is awesome, and they showed it, but in almost every game they were in an unequal fight. Did the romance become an end in itself I wonder? Did the idea of the underdog beating the fancied get converted into a mission? Did they almost plot to be underdogs? I fear they ran too tight a ship, didn’t stock enough ammunition. Or to use a metaphor more in keeping with their amazing style, maybe there weren’t enough sandwiches in the picnic basket.

... contd.