Where Rajasthan Royals finished last season
Royals started strongly by winning four of their first five games but could win only one of the next six. Eventually, they finished fifth with 14 points, two short of qualifying for the playoffs.
RR squad for IPL 2024
Jos Buttler* (wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore* (wk), Sanju Samson (capt, wk), Shimron Hetmyer*, Rovman Powell*, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Donovan Ferreira*, Kunal Singh Rathore (wk), Shubham Dubey, Riyan Parag, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Trent Boult*, Nandre Burger*, R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal and Abid Mushtaq
[Updated after Adam Zampa pulled out]
*Overseas players
Player availability: Prasidh ruled out
Prasidh Krishna has been ruled out for the second successive season. He picked up a quadriceps injury during the Ranji Trophy and underwent surgery on February 23. Royals are yet to name a replacement.
If Royals make the playoffs, they might be without Jos Buttler, who will lead England in a five-match T20I series against Pakistan at home, which begins on May 22.
What's new with RR this year?
A lot. To begin with, they traded Devdutt Padikkal to Lucknow Super Giants for Avesh Khan. At the auction, the Royals bought Rovman Powell, Nandre Burger, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shubham Dubey and Abid Mushtaq.
The good - Jaiswal, Jurel and spinners
Royals boast of an experienced spin duo of R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, having lost Adam Zampa's services. Zampa was not always a first XI player, but picked up eight wickets in six appearances in 2023.
Last season, Chahal grabbed 21 wickets to finish as Royals' highest wicket-taker. That took his overall IPL tally to 187, the most in the history of the tournament. Having been left out of India's both white-ball squads, he will have a point to prove.
Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel, who are now capped India players, will look to carry their confidence of having performed well in the Tests against England. Jaiswal had an impactful season last year as well, when smashed 625 runs at a strike rate of 163.61, including a century and five half-centuries. One of the fifties came off 13 balls, an IPL record. Batting in the lower order, Jurel scored 134 runs in the 88 deliveries last year, at a strike rate of 172.72.
The not-so-good - lack of quality allrounders
After releasing Jason Holder, Royals did not pick an allrounder at the auction. That means despite the Impact Player rule, they may end up with just five bowling options.
However, Royals will be buoyed by Riyan Parag's brilliant all-round show in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. He was the leading run-scorer in the tournament, with 510 runs at an average of 85.00 and a strike rate of 182.79. That included seven half-centuries in ten innings. Parag also bagged 11 wickets at an economy rate of 7.29. The big question is: can he do it in the IPL, too?
Schedule insights
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.