IPL 2018: Biggest strength of each franchise

#6 Rajasthan Royals - The middle order

Ten years after winning the inaugural season, can the Rajasthan Royals do it again?

History has shown the importance of a sound middle order. The Royal Challengers through bitter experience know how critical it is. The Mumbai Indians have won three titles in the last five years owing to a consistently performing middle order.

The Rajasthan Royals seem sorted when it comes to their middle order. Steve Smith, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler are likely to feature in their middle order, followed by all-rounders K Gowtham and Jofra Archer (provided he recovers from injury). Steve Smith is one of the most reliable batsman in the world today, and showcased his brilliance in the IPL last year as he almost led the Rising Pune Supergiants to the title. Young Sanju Samson has time and again shown his worth, having racked up close to 1500 runs in 66 games. He is an explosive batsman who can push the run-rate up drastically. Ben Stokes came out of the auctions as the most expensive player for the second time in a row and for good reason too. The Englishman is spectacular with both bat and ball. Jos Buttler is one of the best finishers in the game today, and demonstrated his ability with the bat for the Mumbai Indians last year.

With such a star-studded middle order, the Rajasthan Royals do not have much worry about in their batting lineup.