IPL 2024: Best Predicted Playing 11 for Rajasthan Royals (RR)

Sanju Samson to target his maiden IPL trophy as captain as we look at the strongest possible playing 11 for Rajasthan Royals (RR) for IPL 2024. 

The winners of the inaugural Indian Premier League, the Rajasthan Royals have been in a trophy hunt since 2009; that’s 15 years and counting. Only once in those 15 years did they come close to securing the trophy, and that was in 2022. But The Sanju Samson-led team for yet another time will look to have their hands on the trophy. But do they have the squad to challenge the trophy? Well, they certainly do. 

If we look at the history of Rajasthan Royals in the last 5 years in Indian Premier League, they finished fifth on the points table in IPL 2023, runner-up in IPL 2022, seventh in IPL 2021, eighth in IPL 2020, and seventh in IPL 2019. It hasn’t been impressive for the RR team, but things look slightly optimistic for RR  if we analyze their current squad for IPL 2024. 

Overall, RR had retained the majority of their core ahead of the Auction. To complement that, RR added a few more solid names in the Auction in the form of Rovman Powell, Nandre Burger, etc. With that, the Rajasthan Royals team now has 4 solid batters, a good mix of 5 wicket-keepers, 4 decent all-rounders, and 9 bowlers in their side. Having said that, what’s the strongest possible playing 11 for Rajasthan Royals (RR) for IPL 2024? Well, let’s find out in this article. 

IPL 2024 Official Squad List for Rajasthan Royals (RR)

Batters: Kunal Rathore, Shimron Hetmyer (o), Shubham Dubey & Yashasvi Jaiswal

WKs: Dhruv Jurel, Donavon Ferreira (o), Jos Buttler (o), Sanju Samson (c) & Tom Kohler-Cadmore (o)

All-rounders: Abid Mushtaq, Ravichandran Ashwin, Riyan Parag & Rovman Powell (o)

Bowlers: Adam Zampa (o), Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Nandre Burger (o), Navdeep Saini, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult (o) & Yuzvendra Chahal

IPL 2024 Strongest Possible Playing 11 for Rajasthan Royals

Openers – Jos Buttler & Yashasvi Jaiswal 

When it comes to the two first-choice openers for Rajasthan Royals, look no other than Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal. These two have been mind-boggling while playing for RR as openers. While Jos Buttler had scored in excess of 800 runs in 2022, Yashasvi Jaiswal also had more than 600 runs at a stunning strike rate of 160+ in 2023. Both will once again play a key role for RR in IPL 2024.

Middle-order – Sanju Samson & Dhruv Jurel

Talking about the middle-order, Rajasthan Royals won’t have Devdutt Padikkal this time around after the southpaw was traded to Lucknow Super Giants ahead of the IPL 2024 Auction. Instead, we should see young and dynamic Dhruv Jurel supporting Sanju Samson in the middle-order for IPL 2024. This is a good combination of experienced Sanju Samson with young Dhruv Jurel supporting him.

Finishers – Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell & Riyan Parag

Talking about the finishers, RR are once again set with West Indies duo Shimron Hetmyer and Rovman Powell, and Indian emerging finisher Riyan Rarag joining them. With the impact player rule, RR have a great batting depth till 7, which makes their batting one of the best in the competition. Moreover, all three are in great form at the moment, and RR would be hoping for Riyan to continue his domestic form in IPL. 

Bowlers – Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan & Yuzvendra Chahal

Coming to the three first-choice bowlers for Rajasthan Royals for IPL 2024, we should see the pace of Trent Boult and Avesh Khan along with the spin of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal. While the trio of Boult, Ash, and Chahal is extremely lethal, the same can’t be said about Avesh Khan, who has been below-par in T20s in the last couple of years. 

IPL 2024 Strongest Playing 11 for Rajasthan Royals (RR) – Batting First

Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Riyan Parag, Avesh Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult & Yuzvendra Chahal. 

While we looked at the strongest playing 11 for RR for IPL 2024 in batting first conditions, taking the impact player rule into consideration, we should see Prasidh Krishna coming in as an extra bowler for Dhruv Jurel, who will not play a lot of role in the fielding department. Overall, with this lineup, Rajasthan Royals have 5 strong bowlers with additional support from Riyan Parag and Rovman Powell, if required. 

IPL 2024 Strongest Playing 11 for Rajasthan Royals (RR) – Bowling First

Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Riyan Parag, Avesh Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult & Yuzvendra Chahal. 

IPL 2024 RR Playing 11 Alternate Options:

#1: Adam Zampa for Trent Boult for Spin-friendly  conditions

Seeing the current setup of the Rajasthan Royals team, the quartet of Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, and Trent Boult is almost certain to play as first-choice overseas players. None of these four are replaceable for now. But just in case there is a situation where RR need to play their third spinner, we may see Adam Zampa playing in place of Trent Boult. 

#2: Sandeep Sharma, Navdeep Saini & Kuldeep Sen as Pace backups

Rajasthan Royals are one side that has a lot of pace bowlers in their side. While Avesh Khan and Prasidh Krishna are definitely the first-choice pacers, the RR team can also look at Sandeep Sharma, Navdeep Saini, and Kuldeep Saini as other pace bowling backups in case the former two are not form, or ruled out because of an injury. 

#3: Nandre Burger as a like-for-like for Trent Boult

Finally, as a third alternate playing 11, we can see Nandre Burger as a like-for-like substitution for Trent Boult. While Boult is far superior in terms of bowling capability, Burger is young, and has been doing quite well for the African team. So, in case Boult is ruled out or not available, Burger isn’t a bad option to explore.   

Thanks for reading! What’s your strongest playing 11 for Rajasthan Royals (RR) for IPL 2024? Please email your thoughts to business@cricalytics.com

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