Rajasthan Royals: A team that'll be different in season 15 of the IPL

Before the commencement of the first season, Rajasthan Royals was considered to be a weak team that will have to struggle throughout.

They proved it right by losing their first match to Delhi Daredevils by 9 wickets.

However, they went on to prove everyone wrong by winning all the subsequent matches and the final.

Yusuf Pathan claimed the Man of the Match award for the final match, Sohail Tanvir won Purple Cap (the IPL's leading wicket-taker), and Australian all-rounder Shane Watson was declared the Man of the Series.

Not the same team since 2008

Since then, 14 seasons of this league have passed, but Rajasthan Royals never came back so strong. They just qualified for the playoffs three times (2013, 2015, and 2018) but never made it to the finals since the first season.

Over the years they failed to perform up to the mark and hence never got rated highly or one of the favorites to win. 

Rajasthan Royals have traditionally been known for bidding on uncapped and new talents for their franchise.

Apart from fresh talent, they had their hands on a few notable experienced players over the years, such as Shane Warne, Shane Watson, Rahul Dravid, Brad Hogg, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammad Kaif.  

Players who have served longest for the franchise are Ajinkya Rahane, Stuart Binny, Sanju Samson for 8 years, Shane Watson and Rahul Tewatia for 7 years, Steven Smith and Chris Morris for 6 years.

Sanju Samson continues to be part of the squad this his 9th year with the franchise.

A fresh start for the franchise

For this 15th edition of the Indian Premier League, franchises got the opportunity to build their team from scratch in Mega Auctions, held in February 2022. The franchise spent INR 89.05 crore out of their purse of INR 90 crore at the IPL 2022 auction.

The team spent Rs. 28 crores to retain 3 players in their squad for IPL 2022. They retained Sanju Samson for Rs. 14 crores, Jos Buttler for Rs. 10 crores, Yashasvi Jaiswal for Rs. 4 crores.

Apart from retention, Rajasthan Royals have been successful in building a balanced and strong team for themselves during the mega auction. 

They have added some valuable players like Devdutt Padikkal, Daryl Mitchell, Shimron Hetmyer, James Neesham, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rassie van der Dussen, and Prasidh Krishna to their squad. Prasidh Krishna became their most expensive buy as the franchise shelled whooping INR 10 crore to bag the pacer. 

Aakash Chopra commented on the team and said, “Devdutt Padikkal will be the highest run-scorer for RR this season. I see him opening alongside Yashasvi Jaiswal. Although this is an Achilles' heel, Jos Buttler will bat down the order but I still feel Padikkal will be the highest run-scorer. It is very difficult this time for teams to make it to the top four, but Rajasthan Royals has everything that it takes to make it there,” 

A lethal bowling attacks

Rajasthan Royals have always kept one or the other high-class fast bowler in their squad and this year is no exception. Trent Boult along with Prasidh Krishna and Navdeep Saini makes up a solid pace attack, supported by experienced Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal in the spin. The interesting bowling attack of the team makes them the underdog of this season, who might not be favourites to win the season but looks to reach play-offs.

Rajasthan Royals fast bowling coach, Lasith Malinga said, "I think we have a fantastic pace attack. You've got experienced overseas players like Boult and Coulter-Nile, with whom I've worked before,"

Malinga was quoted as saying in a media release. Then we've got genuine Indian fast bowlers in Prasidh (Krishna) and (Navdeep) Saini, who have proven themselves at the highest level, and some new faces in Anunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, and Kuldip Yadav.

In T20 cricket, I think little margins really matter, and I'm here to guide them to deliver their best in all situations,".

The team has an awesome combination of coaching and support staff as well. Lasith Malinga joins hand with his former Captain Kumar Sangakkara in the staffing list. The duo has been special for Sri Lanka and now working for the same franchise will look to build a stable foundation for the team.

The probable XI for Rajasthan Royals this year looks like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(c), Devdutt Padikkal, Jos Buttler, James Neesham, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Trent Boult

This squad for fans would look like a team with a combination of best parts from Mumbai Indians, Royal Challengers Bangalore, and Delhi Capitals. Rajasthan Royals this year, are not the same as we have known them before, They’re different, stronger, more balanced.

This year at the IPL, we will probably see another team that will dominate.

Rajasthan is going to play their first match on 29th March 2022, against Sunrisers Hyderabad.