When a tournament called the Indian Premier League was launched in 2008, a lot was at stake. Out of 8 teams, Rajasthan Royals was the only team to have coach and captain of just one person – the great Shane Warne. And the spin wizard led the league to great success by leading his team to a title win in the inaugural season.
Fourteen years later, the franchise has revamped itself for IPL 2022, but they will miss their former coach and icon Warne, who unfortunately passed away earlier on March 4, but as they say, ‘the show’ must move on’, the Royals are preparing for another intense season with some big guns in the side.
Overview
After retaining captain Sanju Samson (Rs 14 crore), Jos Buttler (Rs 10 crore) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rs 4 crore), the Royals entered the mega auction with a balance of Rs 62 crore. After several bidding wars and speedy auctions, the franchise bought star Indian spinners Yuzvendra Chahal (Rs 6.50 crore) and Ravichandran Ashwin (Rs 5 crore). Karnataka’s batting sensation Devdutt Padikkal was brought in for Rs 7.75 crore, while Riyan Parag was back in the hut with a price tag of Rs 3.80 crore.
Fast bowler Pramukh Krishna made the highest bid of Rs 10 crore, followed by Shimron Hetmyer and Trent Boult with Rs 8.50 crore and Rs 8 crore respectively. Nathan Coulter-Nile of Australia was bought for his base price of Rs 2 crore.
Here is the complete team of Rajasthan Royals:
Sanju Samson (Captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Prashant Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy, Anuy Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair , Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell
batting unit
Rajasthan’s batting line-up is replete with the stars of modern cricket. England’s Jos Buttler used to happily pair either Yashasvi or Devdutt to get a quick start whenever the team took the field.
Captain Sanju Samson is a proven choice for the No. 3 slot and his exploits make him the most reliable player at the spot. He has proved his mettle in the past and now he is in command of this unit.
As far as the middle order is concerned, the Royals have a lot to choose from. The list starts with Shimron Hetmyer who has done wonders for Delhi Capitals in the last season. He is a dependable player and a phenomenal striker to go with the ball. Overseas is South Africa’s Rasi van der Dussen who can step in at any moment to provide the finishing touches.
Other Indian names are big on the list but consistency is the area they need to work on. All-rounder Riyan Parag and triple centurion Karun Nair. Lack of playing time could be a possible reason behind his lack of runs but he needs to be prepared as opportunity can knock on his door anytime.
Spinners and Pacers – Bowlers’ Arena
The bowling of Rajasthan Royals is also seen covering almost all the bases. In the spin department, Ashwin takes the leash with Yuzvendra Chahal. The team also has a leg-spinner KC Cariappa from Coorg who has been around the league for many years. From uncapped lots, there are also options in RR Dhruv Jurel and Shubham Garhwal.
Then comes the fast bowling unit and the face of this department is Trent Boult. After teaming up with Jasprit Bumrah over the years, he is set to make a fresh start as the leader of the pace-attack. He will be supported by the famous, Navdeep Saini, national colleague Daryl Mitchell and his MI teammate Nathan Coulter-Nile. Obed McCoy and Kuldeep Yadav will also act as backups. All these will excel under the watchful eye of Sri Lanka’s great fast bowler Lasith Malinga, the team’s fast bowling coach.
Weaknesses if any
The team looks quite balanced but it happens that there is a lack of a reliable all-rounder. James Neesham is there, but he hasn’t lived up to the expectation in previous editions. He has some big hitting qualities but cannot be relied upon for the role of a finisher.
Considering Riyan Parag and Ashwin, the former has won a couple of games in 2020 but last year, he lacked good form on most occasions. Ashwin is a class player but hasn’t fired much with bat in hand in the shortest format of the game.
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