IPL 2020: Rajasthan Royals' strongest possible line-up 

The inaugural winners of IPL, Rajasthan Royals have changed their auction strategy over the years. Earlier, the Jaipur-based franchise focused on the younger talents and played the role of uplifting their careers. However, in the last 3 seasons, the team management has gone after the big names.

They have signed Ben Stokes, Jaydev Unadkat, Jofra Archer, and Jos Buttler to bolster their line-up. Besides, they have let go Ajinkya Rahane this year. Talking about the IPL Auction 2020, they roped in Robin Uthappa as a replacement for Rahane while they also freed up their funds by getting Unadkat back at a lower price. Royals also added the upcoming youngster, Yashasvi Jaiswal besides signing T20 specialists David Miller and Andrew Tye.

Rajasthan Royals IPL 2020 Squad: Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Riyan Parag, Steve Smith, Robin Uthappa, David Miller, Ankit Rajpoot, Mayank Markande, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Akash Singh, Oshane Thomas, Andrew Tye, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tewatia, Shashank Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Aniruddha Joshi, Tom Curran, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Anuj Rawat.

With an aim of winning their second IPL title, Steve Smith will lead them in 2020. Here’s a look at their strongest XI.

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Openers | Jos Buttler (wk) and Robin Uthappa

Jos Buttler will be the key to Rajasthan Royals' success

English wicket-keeper batsman, Jos Buttler will open the innings for Rajasthan Royals once again but this time he will have a new opening partner in Robin Uthappa. Buttler has been a star for Rajasthan in the IPL. During the previous IPL season, he had scored 311 runs in just 8 matches. His average of 38.87 and strike rate of 151.70 show his importance in the Jaipur-based franchise.

The 34-year-old Indian batsman, Robin Uthappa will look to resurrect his IPL career after having a dismal season with Kolkata Knight Riders last year. He could score only 282 runs in 12 matches for Kolkata at a disappointing strike rate of 115.10. Royals should promote him to the opening position because that is where he can make the maximum impact.

Middle Order | Steve Smith (c), Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag

Steve Smith will lead Rajasthan Royals

Former Australian captain, Steve Smith will lead the Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2020. He had led the Rising Pune Supergiant to the final in IPL 2017 and has got the experience of leading an IPL side. In the batting department, he scored 319 runs in 12 games for Rajasthan in 2019. The Aussie will aim to improve his strike rate in the upcoming season.

Kerala’s wicket-keeper batsman, Sanju Samson will look to solidify his case for a place in the Indian team by playing well in the IPL. Samson has featured in 93 IPL matches since 2013. During the previous edition of the league, he scored 342 runs in 12 games which even included a century. 18-year-old all-rounder, Riyan Parag earned the praise of the experts with his fearless batting approach in IPL 2019. He played 7 matches in his debut season, aggregating 160 runs at a strike rate of 126.98. The right-handed batsman also recorded his first IPL fifty last year. Hence, he will target to continue his find form in the T20 league.

All-rounders | Ben Stokes and Rahul Tewatia

Ben Stokes has not lived up to the billing for Rajasthan Royals

The previous record holder of the most expensive overseas signing in IPL Auction, Ben Stokes has not performed up to the mark in the previous two IPL seasons. He played only 9 matches for IPL and scored 123 runs at an average of 20.50. His strike rate of 124.24 tensed the team management.

In the bowling section, the right-arm pacer scalped 6 wickets while giving away runs at an economy rate of 11.22. He has performed extraordinarily in international cricket this year thus, Rajasthan Royals will have high expectations from the Englishman in IPL 2020.

Rajasthan’s team management made some interesting trades during the trade window. They released Ajinkya Rahane, Dhawal Kulkarni and Krishnappa Gowtham from their team and recruited the trio of Mayank Markande, Ankit Rajpoot and Rahul Tewatia.The right-handed all-rounder, Tewatia should get a place in the playing XI because he can play the big shots in the slog overs besides bowling a few overs of leg-spin in the middle. He has not made it big in the IPL but the all-rounder will try to emerge as a star player for Rajasthan.

Bowlers | Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat and Ankit Rajpoot

Jofra Archer inspired England to their first World Cup win

Karnataka’s leg-spinner, Shreyas Gopal will lead the spin bowling section of Rajasthan Royals. The 26-year-old had the best IPL season of his career in 2019 where he scalped 20 wickets in 14 matches. The captain sought him whenever the team required a wicket and Gopal lived up to the team’s expectations. He will be the team’s marquee spinner this year.

Jofra Archer has been unstoppable in the T20 arena ever since he has entered the cricket field. He has played only 2 IPL seasons and he has picked up 26 wickets at an economy rate of 7.52. The batsmen cannot hit big shots off him which has made him one of the top bowlers in world cricket. Supporting Archer in the fast bowling attack will be Saurashtra’s left-arm pace bowler, Jaydev Unadkat. Rajasthan had released him before the auction however, they repurchased his services for INR 3 crores. This should be the do-or-die season for Unadkat because in the past 2 seasons, he has done nothing special for the Shane Warne-coached outfit.

The third wheel of Rajasthan Royals' fast bowling attack will be Ankit Rajpoot. The uncapped Indian pacer joined the Royals during the trade window. He has impressed in the previous IPL seasons but has not played with notable consistency. The right-arm fast bowler will try to cement his place in the match squad with some good performances.