IPL 2018: Strengths and weaknesses of each of the 8 franchises

Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan won the inaugural edition of IPL in 2008

Strengths: Rajasthan Royals have managed to get back their two most important players in Steven Smith and Ajinkya Rahane. They have a brilliant batting line up as the team has a mix of experienced stars like Jos Buttler and Stokes playing along with some impressive young talents like Jofra Archer, Sanju Samson, Rahul Tripathi and D'Arcy Short.

The biggest strength for the team, however, is the return of Shane Warne as the mentor of the Royals. He was the captain-cum-coach of the Royals side when they won the title in the inaugural season of IPL and it would be a huge boost to get him back.

Weaknesses: Bowling is a cause for concern. They don't have a single established spinner in the side and their pace bowling also relies heavily on Jaydev Unadkat who had been leaking runs in the recently concluded Nidadhas Trophy.

Death bowling would especially be a problem if Jofra Archer is ruled out of the competition Unadkat and Stokes would have to step up in that scenario.