Image Credit- BCCI
The Royals had a
great start to the previous season, winning four of their opening five games,
but they were only able to win one of the next six. They ultimately finished
with 14 points, two points short of making the playoffs.
Prasidh Krishna will not play in this season for the second time in a row.
During the Ranji Trophy, he suffered a quadriceps injury, which required
surgery on February 23. The Royals have not yet announced a stand-in.
Jos Buttler, who will captain England in a five-match Twenty20 International
series against Pakistan at home starting on May 22, may miss games if the
Royals advance to the playoffs.
With the Royals, a
lot has changed from the previous campaign. They first sent Avesh Khan to the
Lucknow Super Giants in exchange for Devdutt Padikkal. Rovman Powell, Nandre
Burger, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shubham Dubey, and Abid Mushtaq were all purchased
by the Royals at the auction.
The trio of veteran
spin bowlers Adam Zampa, Yuzvendra Chahal, and R Ashwin represents the Royals.
Zampa might not start every game, but as the competition goes on and the
conditions deteriorate, he might be crucial.
Chahal finished as the Royals’ top wicket-taker in the previous season with 21
wickets. With that, he made history in the IPL by amassing the highest total
ever. Having been excluded from both of India’s white-ball teams, he will be
under pressure to deliver.
Now-capped Indian
players Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel will try to bring their confidence
from their strong performance in the Test match against England. Jaiswal made
history last year as well, smashing 625 runs at a strike rate of 163.61, with
five half-centuries and a century. An IPL record, one of the fifty came off of
thirteen balls. Last year, Jurel, batting in the lower order, amassed 134 runs
at a strike rate of 172.72 in 88 deliveries.
The Royals did not
select an all-rounder at the auction after releasing Jason Holder. That implies
they might only have five bowling choices in the end, even with the Impact
Player regulation in place.
But Riyan Parag’s outstanding all-around performance in the Syed Mushtaq Ali
Trophy will give the Royals hope. With 510 runs at an average of 85.00 and a
strike rate of 182.79, he was the tournament’s top run scorer. In ten innings,
that amounted to seven half-centuries. In addition, Parag claimed 11 wickets at
a 7.29 economy rate. Is he able to replicate this success in the Indian Premier
League?
Royals’ four games
in the first leg of the IPL are well spaced out. They start with two home
matches against LSG and Delhi Capitals, on March 24 and 28 respectively, before
travelling to Mumbai for a game on April 1. Four days later, they play Royal
Challengers Bangalore at home.