After finishing at the bottom of the league table last year, Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be aiming to bounce back in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. As an early move, they have appointed Sanju Samson to take the responsibility to lead the side.
RR were one of the most active teams in the IPL 2021 auction. They spent big bucks on Chris Morris (INR 16.25 crores). Barring Virat Kohli (17 crores since 2018), no other cricketer has been paid as much in a single IPL season.
Apart from Morris, RR had also roped in Shivam Dube (INR 4.4 crores), Chetan Sakariya (1.2 crores), Mustafizur Rahman (1 crore), Liam Livingstone (75 lakhs), KC Cariappa (20 lakhs), Akash Singh (20 lakhs) and Kuldip Yadav (20 lakhs) during the auction to bolster their roster before the new season.
F🦁CUS x 2️⃣ 🔥#HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily | @benstokes38 | @liaml4893 pic.twitter.com/c3eqTPqL1m
— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) April 3, 2021
Let’s have a look at RR’s strongest possible XI for IPL 2021:
Openers
Rajasthan had formed a brand new opening pair last year, in Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler. After Robin Uthappa’s trade deal to CSK, Stokes, and Buttler have now become their automatic choice at the top.
Middle-order
Skipper Sanju Samson, who begins every IPL season with a bang, will be eyeing to maintain his form till the very end in 2021. He is likely to come at No. 3. Riyan Parag is set to follow.
All-rounders
Royals have some prolific all-rounders in their squad. The likes of Rahul Tewatia, Shibam Dube, Chris Morris certainly bring a lot of depth in the lower-middle order. The three all-rounders are set to fill RR’s Nos. 5 to 7.
Bowlers
Jofra Archer will surely be missed among RR fans in the first few games of IPL 2021. Archer, who bagged 20 wickets in 14 games last season, is presently suffering a finger injury.
Until he makes himself available, Andrew Tye is likely to take responsibility with the lead bowler. Kartik Tyagi and Jaydev Unadkat will be his pace-bowling partners. Meanwhile, Shreyas Gopal has become a must-have choice for RR after K Gowtham’s departure.
RR strongest XI for IPL 2021:
Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler (wk), Sanju Samson (c), Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi
RR full-squad for IPL 2021:
Sanju Samson (c), Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, Kartik Tyagi, David Miller, Andrew Tye, Chris Morris, Shivam Dube, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, K.C. Cariappa, Liam Livingstone, Kuldip Yadav, and Akash Singh