After the victory in the inaugural session of the Indian Premier League in the year 2008, Rajasthan Royals has not been able to win a single title. Since 2008, the franchise also failed to reach finals. That’s why this time in 2020 IPL, the management of Rajasthan Royals are trying their best to change this trend. To fulfill this goal, they have taken fantastic players like Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, and Steve Smith.
The 2020 IPL is just a couple of days away, but till now Rajasthan Royals is unsure over their involvement of their star player Ben Stokes. Now Ben Stokes is with his family in New Zealand as his father is suffering from brain cancer. Because of this, he had left the Pakistan Series in the middle way followed by Australia Series. The absence of Stokes from the team of England from those series has provided doubts of him not participating in the 13th edition of IPL.
Rajasthan Royals has kept big hopes on its four overseas cricketers namely Jos Buttler, Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, and Jofra Archer as the other players are comparatively less experienced and new. Although the franchise doesn’t have exact replacement of this star all-rounder, they are thinking to play either David Miller or Tom Curran.
David Miller:
David Miller is famous for his capability to change the dynamics of the match in just a few overs. His expertise to hit big sixes, ability to back himself and his outstanding hand-eye harmonization make him a champion in his own way.
Tom Curran:
During the 2020 IPL auction, Rajasthan Royals picked the all-rounder of England Tom Curran for Rs. INR 1 crore. He has played all formats for team England and has the capability to bowl fast and has very neat batting down the order. While he was first taken by Kolkata Knight Riders in the year 2018, he didn’t involve in the 2019 IPL and now picked by Rajasthan Royals.
Since 2018, the Rajasthan Royals franchise has been heavily dependent on the tight bowling of Jofra Archer. Before the 2020 IPL auction, Rajasthan Royals kept Archer and believed in him as their star bowler. But now ECB has declared that Jofra Archer can’t participate in the 2020 IPL as well as in the upcoming tour of Sri Lanka. By listening to this announcement, Rajasthan Royals has been felt a big blow. Although Rajasthan Royals think of some players for the replacement of Archer, till now Andrew McDonald, the head coach of RR is positive regarding the recovery of Archer.
The replacements:
1.) Daniel Sams
In the BBL (Big Bash League) season, the bowler of Sydney Thunder, Daniel Sams placed at the top position in the bowling chart in which he appeared in 17 matches and claimed 30 wickets. Rajasthan Royals picked Sams for his basic price 20 lakh and he can be a substitute for Jofra Archer.
2.) Mark Wood
Mark Wood can be a like-to-like replacement of Archer. In the recent England and South Africa series, his performance with the ball is terrific. With Jos Buttler and Stokes, Mark Wood can introduce to chemistry in the campaign of Rajasthan Royals. In the 2020 IPL auction, he went unsold with his basic price Rs 50 Lakhs.
3.) Ben Cutting
With a great experience already played in different franchises in the IPL, Ben Cutting of Australia adds the perfect balance to both the batting and bowling side. Ben Cutting has an outstanding season for his basic price of Rs 75 lakhs.
