Squad: Complete list of Players in Rajasthan Royals Team for IPL 2019

Rajasthan Royals (RR) have never been the most glamorous team of the Indian Premier League (IPL). They have always tended to be a quiet team who look to punch above their weight. After a two-year hiatus, Rajasthan Royals made a decent comeback last year when they qualified for the playoffs. While all the attention was on Chennai Super Kings’ comeback, RR quietly went about their business and did well to make it to the top four.

They tried to plug in the loopholes in the 2019 IPL auctions. While they retained most of the core group, RR bought nine players ahead of this season’s IPL. They added a couple of express fast bowlers in Varun Aaron and Oshane Thomas and also added some batting back-up in the form of Manan Vohra, Liam Livingstone, and Ashton Turner.

Hence, with IPL just a month away, let’s take a quick look at the entire squad of the Rajasthan Royals for the upcoming edition of the IPL.

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Batsmen and wicket-keepers

Batsmen: Ajinkya Rahane, Steve Smith, Manan Vohra, Liam Livingstone, Rahul Tripathi, Prashant Chopra, Riyan Parag, Shashank Singh, Shubham Rajane, Ashton Turner.

Wicket-keepers: Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler

Last season, Rajasthan Royals’ success was largely built around the top-order batsmen. The move to open the batting with Jos Buttler worked wonders as the England wicket-keeper turned things around and finished the season with 548 runs which included five fifties. Sanju Samson was another batsman who made big runs (441 runs) last year.

However, the other batsmen did struggle in the middle. Ajinkya Rahane blew hot and cold while the other Indian batsmen couldn’t get going. Hence, the addition of Steve Smith this year will lend solidity to the line-up. However, RR will have to closely monitor his fitness as well as he recently went through an elbow surgery. But they’ve got a couple of good international backups in the form of Liam Livingstone and Ashton Turner, who have a good T20 record.

Manan Vohra, Prashant Chopra, and Rahul Tripathi offer good Indian variety and will need to back up the international stars.

All-rounders

Gowtham was good last season

All-rounders: Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Krishnappa Gowtham, Shreyas Gopal, Mahipal Lomror, Aryaman Birla, and Stuart Binny

Rajasthan Royals have a good mix of Indian and international all-rounders and they will heavily rely on them to be the game-changers. Ben Stokes is one such player who can walk into any team either as a pure batsman or a pure bowler. After a fine 2017 IPL, he didn’t really hit his straps in the 2018 season. But nonetheless, he will certainly be the game-changer in the team.

Another game-changer and X-factor player is Jofra Archer. He has been creating headlines for a while now and excellent last season when he picked up 15 wickets in 10 games. Krishnappa Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal have been around for a while now and will most likely be the lead spinners as well. They can contribute with the bat as well lower down the order.

Stuart Binny, Mahipal Lomror and Aryaman Birla provide good all-round backup as well.

Bowlers

Royals bought Unadkat again

Bowlers: Dhawal Kulkarni, Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Ish Sodhi, Oshane Thomas, Sudhesan Midhun

The Royals seem to have a good Indian fast bowling core. Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni and Varun Aaron will shoulder the bulk of the fast bowling duties. Unadkat and Aaron have been excellent in this domestic season. The former didn’t have a great IPL last year but has regained his form and was one of the keys to Saurashtra’s success in this season’s Ranji Trophy.

On the other hand, Kulkarni hasn’t played much as he recently returned from injury. He played just four first-class games this season. However, he is a part of the Mumbai squad for the upcoming Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.

They have also added Oshane Thomas as well who has the ability to bowl quick and seems to be a quality backup. Meanwhile, Ish Sodhi is the only overseas spinner in the side.

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