The Rajasthan Royals team is back in the IPL after a gap of two years. After being suspended for the charges of match-fixing and corruption, the Jaipur-based team created headlines at the 2018 Auction when they thrashed their usual strategy of lying low and broke the bank to hire some big names in the game. Let’s see how the Royals stack up for this season.

Royals – IPL History

Best Performance:

The spirited Royals overcame great odds to lift the inaugural IPL Trophy under the captainship of Shane Warne. The underrated team full of young talent gifted a few new cricketing superstars to the world.

Worst Performance:

The Rajasthan team failed to repeat their debut success, they have never even managed to reach another IPL final. Their worst result came in 2010 IPL when they ended second-last in the tournament consisting of eight teams.

IPL 2015 Performance:

The Royals were suspended for the IPL 2016 and 2017. Their last IPL season was the 2015 season. They started with a five-match winning streak and eventually ended fourth in the league table to just make it to the playoffs. They were smashed to pieces by a rampaging RCB team in the Eliminator.

Also Read: IPL 2018 Preview: Sunrisers Hyderabad – The Deccan King

Strength:

Heading into the auction, Rajasthan Royals retained only one player that was their captain, the Australian run-machine Steven Smith. At this moment, Smith is the best Test batsman in the world. He will be the man to hold the innings together for the Royals team.

Royals also pulled the most expensive buy of the Auction as they signed up Ben Stokes for a whopping 14.5 Crores. The all-rounder bats explosively in the death overs and will bowl his four overs in each game. The controversial English cricketer is worth his weight in gold.

Also Read: IPL2018 Auctions: Rajasthan Royals (RR)

The greatest strength of Rajasthan Royals traditionally lies in understanding their own strength and playing to it. This year they have packed their roster with the fast bowlers, and the batsmen who are more comfortable with pace coming onto the bat rather than facing spin. The Jaipur green-track will be their greatest ally in all this affair.

T20 Matches often hinge on spectacular fielding performances. The young squad of Rajasthan Royal will definitely be looking to be the best fielding unit in the competition.

Also Read: IPL 2018: Missing Gems From The Arsenal Of Sunrisers Hyderabad

Weakness:

Despite having such a well-thought-out IPL Auction strategy, the Rajasthan Royals management has left a gaping hole in the team. They do not have an experienced spinner. They had to bid astronomical price for K.Gowtham who is largely an unknown entity. This leaves Rajasthan with no choice but to prepare pace-friendly tracks at home and they are bound to suffer on away spinning tracks.

The batting line-up of Rajasthan Royals also looks fragile against the spinners, especially leg-spinners. The batting records of Rahane, Smith, Buttler, and Stokes take a dip when they confront a leg-spinner. They will have to overcome this weakness to defeat the IPL heavyweights.

Prediction for IPL 11

Rajasthan Royals went into the Auction knowing exactly what they wanted and what they had. Yet, Cricket is a game of uncertainty. The sport has often found a way to sink the best-laid plans.

Royals should aim to get into the playoffs with a majority of wins at their impregnable fortress at home and few wins in the away fixtures.

Expected End Position: Fourth or Fifth

Full Squad:

Ben Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat, Sanju Samson, Jofra Archer, K Gowtham, Jos Buttler, Rahul Tripathi, D’Arcy Short, Ajinkya Rahane, Dhawal Kulkarni, Zahir Khan, Ben Laughlin, Stuart Binny, Dushmantha Chameera, Anureet Singh, Aryaman Vikram Birla, Midhun S, Shreyas Gopal, Prashant Chopra, Jatin Saxena, Ankit Sharma, Mahipal Lomror.