Rajasthan Royals are still searching for an IPL title win post 2008.
The most awaited IPL 2020 season is about 10 days away and the excitement among fans seems to be rising with every single day. IPL 2020 has been moved to the UAE and will be played across three venues – Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and Sharjah, over 53 days.
The tournament will kick start on 19 September in Abu Dhabi and will go on till 10 November.
The tournament that begun with Rajasthan Royals lifting the trophy in 2008, has not seen the side get close to winning it ever again. The Royals have qualified for the knockout stages only thrice since then and haven’t yet contested the final since 2008.
However, they seem to have a plan this year, as they are going in with a strong foreign contingent along with Indian youngsters who are set to be the future superstars.
IPL 2020: IPL Journey of Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Numbers
Former Australian skipper Steve Smith will be leading the Royals this season and he will have to choose his team smartly to blend the youngsters with the veterans to create magic on the field.
If the Royals manage to build the right balance, we might see them lifting the trophy yet again. The only problem for them will be the first week where most of their foreign stars will be under quarantine after traveling from England.
In IPL 13, they will be playing 3 games at Sharjah, 5 games in Abu Dhabi, and the remaining 6 league stage games in Dubai.
Team COC brings to you the top 5 players who can help RR win IPL 13:
STEVE SMITH
RR skipper Steve Smith will need to have one of his best T20 seasons if he wishes to see the Rajasthan Royals in the knockout stages of IPL 2020. Smith missed out on the IPL in 2018 due to the sandpapergate scandal. and looked rusty on return in 2019.
He scored 319 runs in 10 innings IPL 2019 including 3 half-centuries at a strike rate of a mere 116.00. It was his return to the big stage after a year-long gap and it was understood. However, his return to international T20s has been better.
Smith has scored 281 runs in 9 innings at an average of 46.83. His Strike Rate has also been in the high 140s and that is a positive to take to the UAE for the RR skipper.
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Smith is not usually known for his T20 batting but a world-class performance from him is long due and you cannot keep someone like him quiet for a long time. The fans can expect him to come good this time around and take RR at least into the knockout stages if not to the title win.
His captaincy skills will also be tested with a new lot of players coming in. But the 31-year-old might be ready for it and also be waiting for the opportunity.
JOS BUTTLER
England wicket-keeper Jos Buttler was phenomenal with the bat in the recently concluded T20I series against Australia and was even awarded the Man of the Series for his 121 runs in two games including an unbeaten match-winning knock of 77.
He has previously won an IPL with the Mumbai Indians.
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However, it was for the Rajasthan Royals where he was slotted into the opener’s role and became an even more dangerous T20 batsman. The recently turned 30-year-old didn’t get to play the complete IPL season in 2019, due to preparation for World Cup.
However, he scored 311 runs in 8 innings at a strike rate above 150. In 2018, Buttler was the highest run-getter for the Royals with 548 runs in 13 innings at an average of 54.80 and a strike rate of 155.24.
A similar season in the UAE for the Englishman will be of utmost importance for the success-hungry RR side. His contribution will not be restricted with the bat as he will have to keep wickets as well.
YASHASVI JAISWAL
Yashasvi Jaiswal is a brilliant investment by the RR management. The left-handed Mumbaikar amassed 400 runs in the U19 Cricket World Cup 2020 where nobody else managed even 300 runs.
He got out just thrice despite being an opener and averaged 133.33 in the tournament. One can say he single-handedly led the Indian batting in the tournament and took them to the finals.
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In the Vijay Hazare trophy as well, he turned heads by becoming the youngest cricketer to score a double century in List A cricket. He smashed 203 runs off 154 balls against Jharkhand playing for Mumbai.
Just 18-year-old, Jaiswal has shown huge potential in domestic cricket and his free-flowing technique equipped with the left-handers’ elegance has grabbed a lot of eyeballs.
IPL 2020 will be the first-ever IPL season for Yashasvi Jaiswal and the southpaw opener is already being touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket. If he continues to score runs at a rate that he has been following so far, RR will have a huge platform to build their innings on.
JAYDEV UNADKAT
RR has the likes of Jofra Archer in their fast bowling department as well. But we reckon that the contribution of Jaydev Unadkat will be much more than the Englishman because the left-hander has a lot of experience of bowling on pitches that aid spin more than pace.
Unadkat got the big bucks in the IPL 2018 when RR poured in INR 11.5 crores for him. However, he could not deliver and probably was the worst that year in terms of Value for Money. In IPL 11, he picked just 11 wickets in 15 games.
IPL 2020: Jaydev Unadkat happy with his rhythm, confident of carrying domestic form to IPL 13
He was released after the season and then bought back again for IPL 2019 by the same team for INR 8.4 crores. He then picked up 10 wickets in 11 games and was released again.
The 28-year-old proved his worth by leading the Saurashtra side to the Ranji Trophy win in the 2019-20 season. He was also the highest wicket-taker in the tournament with 67 wickets in 10 matches including three 4-fers and seven 5-fers.
This made RR bring back Unadkat into their side. He will be looking forward to regaining the same form in the UAE and become a force to reckon with for RR.
DAVID MILLER
The South African middle-order batsman David Miller has switched from Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) before IPL 2020. He will be used effectively by the Royals as they lack quality finishers in the side. With Ben Stokes possibly missing out on a few games, Miller will be their go-to man in the death overs.
The left-hander played only 3 games in 2018 for KXIP and scored 74 runs in the 64 balls he faced. He certainly wasn’t at his best as he could only score 5 boundaries in those many balls. KXIP persisted with him for 2019.
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He scored 213 runs in 10 innings last year at a strike rate close to 130 and just one half-century. Even if the numbers weren’t that bad, it didn’t satisfy the standards met by the Protea.
In IPL 2020, he will be looking forward to having an explosive tournament as his finishing role will be quite important this season for the RR team.spinners.