When it comes to all-rounders, Rajasthan Royals (RR) have managed to strengthen their bench strength but RR’s Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara has opined that most of them will be playing like a batsman in the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. For bolstering their Indian middle-order core RR bought all-rounder Shivam Dube for ₹4.40 crore, after picking up Chris Morris for a record ₹16.25 crores in the IPL auction on Thursday.

Talking about the all-rounders, Kumar Sangakkara said, “I think for us the focus on Dube is for his batting and if there is an opportunity for him to bowl it will be very rare or very few overs. Stokes is of course capable with the ball but his role at the top of the order is extremely crucial and his ability with the bat.”

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He further added, “In terms of his overs, we don’t want to burn him (Stokes) too much with the ball and use him tactically in areas where he can make a difference for us. So in terms of Stokes coming in and bowling, we have no doubt that he can deliver but we don’t want to bowl him all the time.”

Morris will be playing for the Royals for the first time since 2015 and Sangakkara, the former Sri Lanka skipper wants to use the South Africa all-rounder in tandem with England fast bowler, Jofra Archer.

Talking about Morris, Sangakkara said, “Morris has a very specific role for us to play in supporting Archer. I think it gives us a lot more flexibility in terms of how we use Archer. Morris’ numbers when he is fit and strong has been best in all IPLs. Especially at the deaths his numbers are probably number one and in terms of the game impact, he is very much in the top bracket. His ability in that sense is very crucial for us.”

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The Royals also bought services of Bangladesh left-armer Mustafizur Rehman ahead of the season at his base price of ₹1 crore.