IPL 2018: Strengths and weaknesses of the Rajasthan Royals squad

Opportunities:

IPL 2018 will be crucial for Ajinkya Rahane

This season will bring in plenty of opportunities for the Royals. These include everything from nurturing young talent to initiating Rahane's comeback to the Indian LOI setup.

Royals have a good pool of young uncapped players. With no experienced spinner in the squad, RR would be highly relying on the likes of Mahipal Lomror and Krishnappa Gowtham to assist them with their all-round performance. Thus, it would be a golden opportunity for the youngsters to perform at a higher level and make their case for the international cricket.

On the other hand, this is a substantial an opportunity for Rahane as well. He has been an exceptional player for the Indian team over the past few seasons.

However, due to various factors, he hasn't been able to fix his place in the Indian LOI teams yet. Thus, this year's IPL will be crucial for him to churn some terrific numbers in the shortest format of the game to knock on the national selectors' doors.