Rajasthan Royals – IPL 2021 Preview

Indian Premier League’s first successful team was unable to re-emulate their success in the next 12 seasons. They had done descent in the auctions held at Chennai this year. With the quality of explosive batsmen and destructive bowlers in the team required for the format, the Royals will be trying to bring back the glory to the franchise in the 14th edition of the IPL. One of the best websites for IPL betting, 10CRIC - has placed Rajasthan Royals seventh favourite with odds at 9.00. It will be interesting to see if the Royals roar big (Halla Bol) this season under the new captain Sanju Samson.

History of Rajasthan Royals

Considered the weakest team in the inaugural IPL, Rajasthan Royals pulled something nonimaginary. They went on to win the 1st IPL under the captaincy of Aussie Legend Shane Warne. Graeme Smith & Swapnil Asnodkar’s opening stands, Shane Watson’s All-round performance, Sohail Tanvir’s Purple cap, and Shane Warne’s rewardful presence paid off for the franchise to achieve their 1st and only IPL title so far.

But RR’s success slumped to a low for the next 4 seasons. They finished 6th or below in the table till 2013 where they came 3rd. The franchise was rocked by a series of events when their players including Sreesanth, Ankeet Chavan, and Ajit Chandila were arrested by Delhi Police on charges of spot-fixing. In 2015, IPL governing council suspended RR with Chennai Super Kings for 2 years as a result of their involvement in match-fixing.

Rajasthan made a comeback in 2018 with Ajinkya Rahane as their captain. They qualified for the playoffs but lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by 25 runs in the eliminator. Season 2019 & 2020 saw Royals finishing at 7th and 8th place due to series of poor results.

RR IPL 2021 Auction

Rajasthan Royals shocked everyone by releasing their captain Steve Smith before the auction. Along with Smith they released 8 more players to jump the auction with a purse of INR 34.85 crore (USD 4.78 million). They rocked the initial stage of the bid by buying two all-rounders Shivam Dube and Chris Morris for a whopping amount. Dube cost RR INR 4.4 crore (USD 604k). On the other hand, RR spent 16.25 crore (USD 2.23 million) on Chris Morris to make him the highest-paid player of the IPL. Both Dube and Morris were partners in RCB last season. Morris comes with an experience of 80 wickets in 70 IPL matches at an economy of 7.81 and 551 runs at a strike rate of 157.9. The inclusion of Morris and Dube has made their all-round attack very much lethal with Ben Stokes and last year’s finding Rahul Tewatia already in the squad.

RR also signed Mustafizur Rehman for his base price of INR 1 crore (USD 137k). Mustafizur who did not find any buyer last season has played for Mumbai Indians and SunRisers Hyderabad earlier picking 24 wickets in 24 games. RR welcomed back their former player from the 2019 season Liam Livingstone back to the squad for his base price of INR 75 lakhs. RR finished their auction by signing 4 uncapped players. Overall, RR could not capitalize on the funds they had in the purse. They signed a player with a history of injuries for INR 16.25 crore and kept INR 13.65 crore funds remaining at the end of the auction.

Players out: Steve Smith, Tom Curran, Varun Aaron, Akash Singh, Anirudha Joshi, Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Shashank Singh.

Players in: Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Liam Livingstone, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh, Chetan Sakariya, KC Cariappa.

Key Players for Rajasthan Royals

Sanju Samson: RR has handed over the captaincy to Sanju Samson after releasing Steve Smith. Signed in the auctions of 2018, the Kerala-born wicketkeeper has played 107 IPL matches scoring 2584 runs at a strike rate of 133.74 and 2 centuries.

Ben Stokes: Sir Ben Stokes is undoubtedly the backbone of the RR attack. The highest-paid player of 2018-2020 has played 42 IPL matches with 920 runs at a strike rate of 135.09 and two centuries. He has also contributed fairly well with the ball with 28 wickets at an economy of 8.52.

Jofra Archer: English Pacer Archer joined RR in 2018. So far he has taken 46 wickets in 35 matches at an economy of 7.13. He played a crucial role last season by taking 20 wickets. He is famous in the Royals clan to hit big sixes in the death overs. With a strike rate of 180 last season, Archer has proven his status of match-winner.

Jos Butler: The third base of the three English Musketeers of RR has been consistent since he has joined IPL. With 58 matches in the pocket, he has scored 1714 runs at a strike rate of 149.56 and 11 50-plus innings. His wicket-keeping skills will be helpful for captain Sanju Samson to share his workload.

RR Squad for IPL 2021:

Sanju Samson (c), Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Liam Livingstone, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh, Chetan Sakariya, KC Cariappa.

Rajasthan Royals Odds to Win IPL 2021 at 10CRIC

10CRIC that provide the best IPL odds has placed Rajasthan Royals’ odds at 8.00 for IPL 2021. They are the seventh favourites to win the IPL according to these cricket betting odds. They have one of the most versatile squad. With the new set of players, it is achievable for Rajsthan to win their second IPL, But recent history depicts a different picture.

Expectations for IPL 2021

1. Mumbai Indians: Rajasthan has a 50% record of win and loss against the most successful team in the IPL. But they have won the last 3 of the four outings against MI. Bookies predict RR to win one and lose one against the Mumbai Indians.

2. Kolkata Knight Riders: RR looks like a winner in both matches against KKR this season.

3. Delhi Capitals: DC has triumphed the last two outings against RR comfortably. RR will be furious to get back against their rivals on a winning side. DC however is favoured to win both the outings based on their squad.

Conclusion

Rajasthan Royals have enough firepower in their artillery to win the IPL for the second time. The ball is in the court of the captaincy of Sanju Samson and the effective performance of the formidable squad. Place your IPL bets at 10CRIC and claim a 100% Welcome bonus!