IPL 2020: 3 Ways RR Could Line Up Next Season
Since lifting the Indian Premier League trophy in its first season, all the way back in 2008, Rajasthan Royals have been a franchise that has failed to excite. The Jaipur side has had its moments in the past 11 years but has yet to really come up with a season that has impressed one and all.
Even last season, Rajasthan finished second from bottom in the points table, staying off the last place only on their net run rate, as they won just 5 of their 14 league games. As a result, much of the squad was let go and the Royals have been busy, bringing in no less than 11 new players. So, let's have a look at how the IPL's first-ever champions could set their stall out come the summer.
The First Choice XI
Jos Buttler, Robin Uthappa, Steve Smith, Sanju Samson, Manan Vohra, Ben Stokes, Riyan Parag, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Ankit Rajpoot
First, let us have a look at the team that RR will be most likely to use during the course of the tournament.
In this side, we have explosive Englishman Jos Buttler, very much a T20 specialist, opening the innings alongside now-seasoned IPL and domestic campaigner Robin Uthappa, who was let go by Kolkata Knight Riders ahead of this year's auction. The two should complement each other well, as Buttler's slam-bang approach will be tempered by Uthappa's more calming influence. Following them is captain Steve Smith, who needs no introduction, and the ever-dependable Sanju Samson. Manan Vohra is also a useful player at number 5, who is followed by 4 more players who are extremely capable with the bat.
Englishmen Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer are both big hitters and bring real star quality to the RR line-up, while Indians Riyan Parag and Shreyas Gopal are no mugs with the bat who also guarantee at least 6 tight overs with the ball in hand. The team is rounded off by the two Indian pacers tasked with supporting Archer in the bowling department; Jaydev Unadkat and Ankit Rajpoot. While both of them have the sometimes undesirable quality of picking up wickets at a high cost to runs, that should be offset by the relative stinginess of the other bowlers.
Giving Youth a Chance
Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Steve Smith, Sanju Samson, Mahipal Lomror, Ben Stokes, Riyan Parag, Tom Curran, Ankit Rajpoot, Mayank Markande, Kartik Tyagi.
By making 5 changes to the first-choice team, we get a line-up that has a far more youthful look about it, and in a sense, helps cement Rajasthan Royals' reputation for developing young talent and helping them shine.
In this XI, Buttler is partnered at the top by 17-year old Mumbai sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal, who, even at this tender age, has a double hundred to his name in 50 overs cricket. The middle order is largely unchanged, save for one player, as former India U-19 all-rounder and Rajasthan native Mahipal Lomror comes in for Manan Vohra. Stokes and Parag follow him, before we get into the lower order.
The bowling line-up selected here sees 3 changes from that of the first-choice team. Tom Curran, Mayank Markande and Kartik Tyagi come in for Archer, Gopal and Unadkat, almost as like-for-like replacements. Of the three, there are high expectations from the Royals' management group for Tyagi, who is also a Rajasthan native and promising fast bowler with several tools in his arsenal being well-developed already, including a supremely accurate yorker.
Rotating the Superstars
Robin Uthappa, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Oshane Thomas, Andrew Tye, Varun Aaron.
There is no doubt that Rajasthan have perhaps the 4 best starting foreign players in their sqaud in Buttler, Smith, Stokes and Archer. However, the franchise will want to make sure that they are not over-reliant on these 4 to do the heavy lifting. As a result, they may want to rest some of them at times to give the other players a chance to prove themselves.
Among the 4 names mentioned above, only Buttler keeps his spot here, opening with Uthappa as usual. This line-up also sees a promotion for Sanju Samson, moving up to number 3 to incorporate David Miller at number 4. Manan Vohra comes in next, followed by 3 spin-bowling all-rounders in Parag, Gopal and leggie Rahul Tewatia.
The pace bowling attack in this XI is quite exciting as well, with the options for the captain being West Indian Oshane Thomas, who can extract bounce off nearly any pitch in the world, Andrew Tye, who is a canny operator both up front and at the death, with his knuckleballs foxing several batsmen over the years and Varun Aaron, who has had several ups and downs in his career thus far, but is still a superb exponent of bowling accurately at high speeds.