IPL 2018: Rajasthan Royals' predicted XI for their first match
Things have not been great for the Rajasthan Royals lately; they are making a return to the IPL after a two-year hiatus due to their involvement in unbecoming activities. Moreover, they had retained Steve Smith who was later barred from playing in the IPL following the ball-tampering controversy.
RR are looking to enter the tournament with a clean slate, and they would love to kick off this season in style by defeating the Sunrisers Hyderabad on 9th of April at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Let's take a look at the probable playing XI for RR in their first match.
Opening batsmen
Opening the batting for Rajasthan Royals will likely be skipper Ajinkya Rahane and Australian sensation D'Arcy Short.
Short proved his mettle as an explosive batsman by winning the Player of the Tournament in the recently played Big Bash League. He scored 572 runs with an extraordinary average of 57.20, and he also essayed a match-winning knock against New Zealand in his debut T20I match.
Rahane will be an able partner for Short and the two of them can together provide the Royals with a solid start. Rahane is a skilled technical batsman who has scored over 3,000 runs in his IPL career so far, he thrives under pressure.
Our tournament homepage has IPL live score, Match Analysis, Detailed Stats, Fantasy Tips, Controversies, Match Predictions and much more. Bookmark it now!