Rajasthan Royals had scripted history in the first edition of the Indian Premier League after being crowned as champions in 2008 under the leadership of Australian spinner Shane Warne. Since then, the team is still searching for the second title. Unlike their last season in 2019 who won only five games, it will be interesting if they can shift gears this time. As expectations are low from this team, RR will aim to at least finish in the top 4 and qualify for the play-offs, given the changes being made in their squad.

 

 

 

As the top order highly relied on Ajinkya Rahane, however, he was traded off to Delhi Capitals. But after the inclusion of the team's expensive buy - Robin Uthappa, the top order looks stable. Uthappa along with Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler can deliver at any given point. All eyes will be on India Under-19 star Yashasvi Jaiswal who can be the rising star of IPL. The middle-order also confident enough with the skipper Steve Smith and supporting him are David Miller, Ben Stokes. Stokes is also one of the best all-rounders who can also satisfy with the ball.

 

In the bowling department, the prized possession for RR will be Jofra Archer along with India's Jaydev Unadkat. The spinning will be handled by Mayank Markande and Rahul Tewatia. Other overseas bowlers like Oshane Thomas, Andrew Tye, and Curran also strengthen the pace attack. Among Indians, all eyes will be on Under-19 players Akash Singh and Kartik Tyagi.

 

 

If any team has a strong overseas contingent, then it is RR as it has Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, and Ben Stokes who can bolster up the batting-line up. They also have back-up on whom they can depend on like Miller. With Jaishwal and Uthappa coming in, the top order also looks powerful. The combination of Archer and Unadkat lethal and another bowler who can give batsmen hard time is Markande.

 

 

Ben Stokes might miss out on the first phase of IPL due to personal reasons, so it can be a big blow for the team. The replacement might be Tom Curran due to his all-round abilities but RR will be certainly short of genuine all-rounders. This can also result in having too many batsmen for the middle-order rather than all-rounders as they do not have significant all-rounder. There is no option for locals. There is almost no experienced or skilled Indian player whom RR will include in playing XI. Lack of quality spinners will also be another setback for RR.

 

 

Players bought by RR at the auction: Robin Uthappa (Rs. 3 crore), Jaydev Unadkat (Rs. 3 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rs. 2.4 crore), Anuj Rawat (Rs. 80 lakh), Akash Singh (Rs. 20 lakh), Kartik Tyagi (Rs. 1.3 crore), David Miller (Rs. 75 lakh), Oshane Thomas (Rs. 50 lakh), Tom Curran (Rs. 1 crore), A Joshi (Rs. 20 lakh), Andrew Tye (Rs. 1 crore).

 

Squad: Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Riyan Parag, Steve Smith, Robin Uthappa, David Miller, Ankit Rajpoot, Mayank Markande, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Akash Singh, Oshane Thomas, Andrew Tye, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tewatia, Shashank Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anirudha Joshi, Tom Curran, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Anuj Rawat.