Name: Rajasthan Royals- Captain: Sanju Samson
- Head Coach: Andrew McDonald
- Home Ground: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur, Rajasthan
- Squad members: 24
- Best result: Champions in IPL 2008
- IPL 2020 result: 8th on points table
They shocked the world with a victory in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008 but since then, it’s been a loooonggg wait for Rajasthan Royals to bring home the silverware again. This year, they’ve dropped some top batsmen like Robin Uthappa and Steve Smith and this might even work in their favour because they actually have quite a few talented batsmen at the top of the order for IPL 2021.
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Last year, they tried something new by bringing Ben Stokes to open the innings and while he was playing poorly initially, he came back hard in the second half of the tournament and even ended the season with a match-winning century. He’s one of the biggest threats coming into IPL 2021 as well, while his countryman Jos Buttler is expected to open as he has for the last couple of seasons, with 10 fifties in his last 34 IPL games!
If they decide to let Stokes play at his usual position in the lower order, it could mean another chance for Yashasvi Jaiswal to open the innings. The talented youngster was the top scorer in the 2020 U-19 World Cup and wasn’t given a long run in IPL 2020 where he managed 40 runs in 3 games. He’s even got a double century in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and he’s got a lot to offer this Rajasthan Royals franchise in the years to come.
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Apart from Stokes and Buttler, Jofra Archer has also got his place in the side cemented with 20 wickets in 14 games, ending as the top wicket-taker for RR last season. He’s an important part of the squad and that means just one of Andrew Tye, David Miller, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, and Liam Livingstone will get a chance to play. With a packed batting lineup, it’s unlikely Miller and Livingstone will get much of game time.
From Tye, Rahman and Chris Morris it’s likely the latter makes the best playing eleven because he got a record breaking 16+ Crore contract at the IPL 2021 Auction. If he manages to stay 100% fit right through the season, he could be the difference for RR this season, with contributions in both departments. It’s going to be a tough IPL 2021 for Miller who has consecutive fifties in his last couple of ODIs but may not get to play this season.
Having taken over the captaincy, Sanju Samson is going to have all the eyes on him this season as he was their top scorer with 375 runs in IPL 2020 but one complaint we would have is that Samson, being one of the brightest young talents in India, isn’t as consistent as he should be. After a career-changing season last year, all-rounder Rahul Tewatia was retained and he provides additional firepower in the lower order in case of a collapse.
RR – IPL 2021 Betting
One buy who I think may make a difference is Shivam Dube who has plenty of potential but hasn’t made it count in the IPL as yet. He’s coming in to the team from RCB and he may find it tough to crack into the team with other all-rounders already present like Morris, Stokes and Tewatia. Since they were at the bottom of the table last season, Rajasthan is listed at pre-tournament odds of 9.0 with Funbet but I’d honestly leave them out of my IPL betting this year.
There’s the very young Riyan Parag in this squad who has in fact been a part of the regular playing eleven since a couple of seasons now. He didn’t get to contribute much last season except for one match-winning knock with the bat and there’s a slight chance he’s left out to accommodate Mahipal Lomror or Shivam Dube. Among the youngsters, watch out for Kartik Tyagi who made his debut last season and is likely to be in the best eleven again!
RAJASTHAN ROYALS IPL 2021 squad: Sanju Samson (C), Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Andrew Tye, David Miller, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Liam Livingstone, Manan Vohra, Shivam Dube, Chetan Sakariya, KC Cariappa, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh, Anuj Rawat.
RR has been a constantly under-performing team over the years and we don’t see how this would change in IPL 2021 either. Even in the last couple of seasons, they’ve shown plenty of promise at the start of the season, only to slow down towards the latter half of the competition. For more updates on the progress of RR this season, stay tuned to ReadScoops.com…
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