IPL 2022 Auction: Predicting Rajasthan Royals (RR) playing XI

The Rajasthan Royals (RR) are one of the sides primed to make it to the top in IPL 2022. Much of this declaration stems from the fact that they have built a solid core for the next couple of years with some experienced names and promising talent.

Prior to the mega auction, they retained the services of Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. During the auction, they added some major names in Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal to bolster their spin department.

Trent Boult was one of their key pace acquisitions, adding more teeth to their bowling, and this puts them as one of the title contenders. Before we predict the ideal playing XI, here's a look at the complete Royals squad:

Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy, Anunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldip Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell

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Predicting Rajasthan Royals (RR) playing XI

Rajasthan will most likely open with young guns Devdutt Padikkal and Yashasvi Jaiswal. This lends some stability to No.3 and No.4 with Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler.

The only problem with Jaiswal and Padikkal as the opening combination is lack of experience with the two players and the fact that they're both left-handed.

However, it will be a gamble, or for a better word, an experiment that the Royals can conduct for the first few games.

West Indies hard-hitter Shimron Hetmyer and Kiwi James Neesham will be the designated finishers for the side, while Ravichandran Ashwin will be their last line of defense with the bat.

Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal will also operate as the spin twins, with Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, and Navdeep Saini as their pace options. The advantage with this playing XI is that the side bats deeper.

Boult and Saini are no slouches with the bat and that would mean RR can take the game down to their No.9.

Player	Role
Devdutt Padikkal	Bat
Yashasvi Jaiswal	Bat
Sanju Samson	Bat
Jos Buttler	Bat/WK
Shimron Hetmyer	Bat
James Neesham	All-rounder
Trent Boult	Bowl
R Ashwin	Bowling all-rounder
Yuzvendra Chahal	Bowl/spin
Prasidh Krishna	Bowl
Navdeep Saini	Bowl

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What are your thoughts on RR's ideal playing XI?