The Indian Premier League (IPL) team Rajasthan Royals (RR) is headquartered in Jaipur. When the IPL debuted in 2008, RR was one of the initial eight franchises. RR is now owned by Manoj Badale and other investors. The home field of the Rajasthan Royals is Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Under the leadership of Australian star Shane Warne, who also served as the team’s mentor, the Pink City franchise won the IPL’s first season.
Several scandals have tainted the Rajasthan Royals’ IPL campaign. After reaching a consensus, BCCI decided to end the franchise’s contract in 2010 but afterward changed its mind.
Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, was implicated in a spot-fixing controversy in 2016. The BCCI adopted the Lodha committee’s recommendation of a two-year suspension for the squad. In the 2018 edition, RR was back in the competition. Rajasthan Royals participated in the IPL 2018 playoffs. but was unable to advance to the finals after falling to Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the first round.
Steve Smith rejoined the squad in the 2019 IPL after serving a one-year suspension for the ball-tampering controversy. Midway through the 2019 season, he was named the Royals’ captain due to the team’s dismal performance. He was chosen as the team’s permanent captain for IPL 2020, however, the franchise let him go following the competition. Sanju Samson was chosen to lead the Rajasthan Royals in the IPL in 2021.
In 2021, the Rajasthan Royals had another lackluster season, finishing seventh with five victories in 14 games, a little improvement over their previous placement of last place. Only three of the first leg’s seven games were won by the Royals, and they continued to struggle in the UAE, winning only two of their remaining seven games. Nothing really went their way in the second half. They were without some of their best players and were nonetheless a top-heavy team because of their well-known flaws. Their bowling assault suffered from the lack of a spearhead.
In 2022, Rajasthan Royals, the winners of the first Indian Premier League (IPL), had an incredible season earlier this year, making it to the final for just the second time in their history. The Sanju Samson-led team narrowly lost to Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2022 championship game.
Jos Buttler, the Orange Cap champion who scored over 800 runs in the previous season, was the mastermind behind that fantastic run. Having kept the nucleus of their team for the 2023 season as well, the Royals will try to build on the success of the 2022 campaign. Rajasthan has to fill 9 positions, including 4 foreign players, with the remaining 13.2 crores in their budget.
-AUCTION-
We’re not too far away from the 15th edition of the major tournament beginning now that the IPL 2022 start date has been decided. The 10 clubs would be eager to begin the competition on March 26 after spending a lot of time, money, and effort assembling their unique squads. Every time the competition is restarted, there is a fresh opportunity for the teams to win glory and hoist the prized trophy.
The Rajasthan Royals are one squad that would want to take advantage of this new beginning. The 2008 IPL winners haven’t been particularly impressive for most of their participation in the competition since then. The big auction, however, made sure that each franchise could start over and assemble a team from scratch. RR began their IPL 2022 campaign by pre-auctionally keeping Skipper, Sanju Samson (Rs 14 crore), Jos Buttler (Rs 10 crore), and Yashaswi Jaiswal (Rs 4 crore).
They continued to make their purchases at the auction table after that. The fast bowler from India, Prasidh Krishna, was the highest they purchased for the sum of Rs 10 crore. They also spent a significant amount of money on West Indian batter Shimron Hetmyer, paying him Rs 8.50 crore. They constructed their core around Trent Boult (8 crores), Devdutt Padikkal (7.75 crores), Yuzvendra Chahal (6.50 crores), and R Ashwin (5 crores). Together with other purchases, RR signed seasoned cricketer Nathan Coulter-Nile for Rs 2 crore and talented Indian player Riyan Parag for Rs 3.80 crore, spending a total of Rs 61.05 crore on their team.
-Rajasthan Royals (RR) Full squad IPL 2023-
Sanju Samson (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy, Anunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell.
-Rajasthan Royals Analysis-
Strengths: Power-packed batting order
The Rajasthan Royals have a strong batting order with players like Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Sanju Samson, and Jos Buttler. One of the best white-ball cricket players right now is undoubtedly Buttler. The powerful hitter uses a wide range of strokes and has a huge hitting arsenal. Buttler, England’s vice-captain for limited overs, excels at taking on excellent speed and is more than capable of destroying spin bowling as well.
Weaknesses: Lack of game-changing all-rounder
The all-rounders’ job is one of the most crucial in creating the ideal balance for a T20 team. Although RR’s batting has strong hitting talent, they only have a few players that can contribute when needed with both the bat and the ball. A captain’s armament when entering a T20 competition of this kind should include an all-rounder. Each team would benefit from having a player who can bat the winning blow and come to the club’s aid when the top and middle order falter. An all-rounder is also a very useful alternative for the captain when one or two of their regular bowlers are off or suffer an unplanned injury.
Jimmy Neesham, a cricketer for New Zealand, is a good all-around option for the Royals. The 28-year-old, though, has fallen short of expectations in most of the past IPL organizations he has represented. Neesham, who bowls right-arm medium and bats left-handed, can smash a few massive sixes but has frequently struggled to maintain consistency in his performances. Neesham’s bowling may be set up on flat surfaces, and he lacks much variety to recover from a batter’s counterattack.
Opportunities: Strong Indian core
The team is led by a 27-year-old Indian talent in Sanju Samson and has the perfect Indian core in their squad. The IPL after all is said and done is an Indian domestic tournament with each team only allowed four overseas players in their playing eleven. Recent precedent has often reiterated the fact that teams who have a good mix of Indian talent usually do well in the tournament. Having two very young but extremely talented cricketers in Yashaswi Jaiswal and Devdutt Padikkal, the RR batting is infused with youth. The two southpaws could be the perfect opening combination for the Royals with their fearless attitude and can set up the innings beautifully for the experienced batters to come and capitalize.
Threats: Lack of experienced pace bowling options
Trent Boult, a seasoned New Zealand fast bowler, is a member of the Royals roster, but the team lacks resources when it comes to pace bowling alternatives. Boult has excelled as a bowler in the IPL, particularly for the Mumbai Indians in the past, but he may lack expertise on the other end of the bat.
