Rajasthan Royals IPL 2023 Preview

The Rajasthan Royals secured their best-ever IPL finish since the inaugural season in 2022, with Sanju Samson’s side finishing second in the league stage and losing the final to the Gujarat Titans. The Royals have added to their excellent core from last season with the acquisitions of Jason Holder and Joe Root at the auction, giving the team another excellent chance to finish in the playoff positions and win their first title since 2008.

Player to watch out for: Jos Buttler

Jos Buttler carried the Rajasthan Royals to a finals berth in IPL 2022, scoring an astonishing 863 runs and record-equalling four centuries in 17 innings. Buttler has kept up this terrific run in the shortest format with the bat since IPL 2022, guiding England to a T20 World Cup victory in Australia and scoring the most runs in the first edition of SA20 for the Paarl Royals.

Strengths

Rajasthan’s batting might was one of the key reasons behind their success last season, and with a mix of experienced international stars such as Buttler and Hetmyer and dynamic Indian batters in Samson, Padikkal, and Jaiswal, the Royals have one of the most complete batting line-ups in the IPL.

The 2022 finalists also solved last season’s team balance issues with the addition of Jason Holder. The Royals used Ravichandran Ashwin as a floater and pinch-hitter last year to mitigate their lack of a traditional number seven. However, Jason Holder’s inclusion adds more balance to the side, giving the team a genuine all-rounder that can potentially bowl four overs and finish games with the bat.

The Royals also have the best spin duo in the IPL in Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin. Chahal finished last season as the purple cap winner, taking 27 wickets, and was well complemented by Ashwin, who bowled important overs across all phases of the innings and conceded just 7.5 runs an over.

Weaknesses

Prasidh Krishna and Obed McCoy were outstanding for the Rajasthan Royals at the death in IPL 2022 and played a big part in their road to the final. However, Krishna has been ruled out of the entire season due to injury, while McCoy is unlikely to find himself in the playing XI following the acquisition of Jason Holder, leaving the team vulnerable with the ball in the slog overs.

The Royals replaced the injured Prasidh Krishna with Sandeep Sharma for IPL 2023, but the seamer is mainly effective in the powerplay, while the other domestic pace options include inexperienced youngsters Kuldip Yadav or Kuldeep Sen and an inconsistent Navdeep Saini.

Probable Playing XI

Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Jason Holder, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Sen