Rajasthan Royals, it is the only team whom no other franchise can really single out. The opening champions included massive changes to their team in this 13th season of IPL. In place of Ajinkya Rahane, who was leading the team until the last edition few matches and now traded by Delhi Capitals, Australian ex-skipper Steve Smith will take the captaincy charge and we hope a fantastic show in this edition from his team.
Here we are representing overall team information about Rajasthan Royals.
Probable XI: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Steven Smith, Robin Uthappa, Ben Stokes, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Rajpoot/Varun Aaron/Kartik Tyagi
Yashasvi Jaiswal:
As much as opening options is concerned, Yashasvi Jaiswal is the best as last year in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he was coming into limelight for making 203 runs off 154 balls against Jharkhand and became the youngest male double century-maker in List A cricket. From there, he is emerging as the highest run-getter in the Under-19 World Cup, 2020, which was held in South Africa. In that tournament, he had appeared in six matches and scored 400 runs with an average of 133.33.
Jos Buttler:
In the team of Rajasthan Royals, Jaiswal is perfect to open the bat with Jos Buttler, whose tremendous experience will be the right foundation for the youngster. It has no doubt that after Shane Watson, maybe Jos Buttler is the best investment for Rajasthan Royals.
Sanju Samson:
Rajasthan Royals has invested a lot in Sanju Samson and he proved it right by playing some really awesome knocks for the team including a century. His capability to play the new ball makes the perfect choice to play in number 3 position if the wicket falls early.
Steven Smith:
In the 2019 Indian Premier League, Rajasthan Royals could manage to win only five matches. Out of those five wins, three came in the latter half when Rajasthan Royals changed skipper of the team in midway. After the mentorship was taken over by ex-Australian captain, Steve Smith for the last six matches, their luck turned. The impact of Steve Smith as skipper was telling, and it was not a surprising thing when the RR management named Smith as their full-time captain for the 2020 IPL.
Ben Stokes:
For this 2020 IPL edition, Rajasthan Royals is really hoping for England superstar Ben Stokes to be available, who has performed tremendously well in the 2019 IPL. The fantastic form of Stokes in the last series against the West Indies will provide Rajasthan Royals some hope of his form carrying in the IPL also and deliver what he has not in the previous two seasons.
Robin Uthappa:
In case Ben Stokes opts out, the experience of Robin Uthappa could work to handle the middle order. In the IPL auction, he became the first Indian player took by Rajasthan Royals. Over the last six IPL editions, he has performed exceedingly well.
Riyan Parag:
The Assam youngster, Riyan Parag has shown great application in both bats as well as the ball. In last year’s IPL, he entered the history books of IPL after slamming his 1st half-century against Delhi Capitals. At just 17 years- 175 days, Riyan Parag became the youngest player to make an IPL half-century.
Shreyas Gopal:
Shreyas Gopal has been a very useful selection of RR in the 2018 IPL auction. In the last two seasons, he played 24 matches and picked 31 wickets. In the last two seasons, his 21 wickets in the middle overs (in between 7-15 overs) is the joint-third most behind Rashid and Tahir.
Jofra Archer:
While Jofra Archer has the capability to take the whole world by storm, his injuries have put a dent on his expertise. He has been a very impactful player since he included in team England and played a very crucial role in their 2019 World Cup win. However, recently ECB revealed that Jofra Archer would be unable to take part in the 2020 IPL. But still, Rajasthan Royals is hopeful for his comeback.
Jaydev Unadkat:
Because of the England-Australia series, mostly Rajasthan Royals are likely to suffer as Smith, Buttler, and Archer, all are in their ranks and all they have to miss the beginning phase of 2020 IPL. To fulfill the absence of Steve Smith, Rajasthan Royals re-bought Jaydev Unadkat, who will lead the team. This is for the 9th time, Jaydev Unadkat is bought by an IPL franchise, and this makes him the most demanded player in the history of IPL auctions.
Ankit Rajpoot:
Ankit Rajpoot is the only player who claimed a five-wicket haul in IPL. This puts one of the most memorable bowling performances of Rajpoot ever when he took 5 wickets by conceding 14 runs in a league against Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Varun Aaron:
Varun Aaron is one of the forgotten cricketers of India. No one can forget the outstanding performance in the 43rd match of IPL 2019 between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals, in which the injury-prone pacer took two wickets for 20 runs and won the man of the match award.
Kartik Tyagi:
And the last but not the least, Kartik Tyagi, who had an extraordinary U-19 World Cup in which he played 6 matches and claimed 11 wickets. The numbers only signify his bowling skill and it will definitely help Rajasthan Royals.
