GameDay Squad IND Fantasy Cricket Squad Preview: The Rajasthan Royals! Get the inside scoop on the Rajasthan Royals Cricket Squad for the upcoming GameDay Squad competition with an in-depth analysis and preview. Find out who to watch out for!
The Rajasthan Royals are looking to climb to the top of Indian Premier League after finishing a very respectable 5th last season. The Royals have some of the most exciting talent in the league and if they put some good performances together, anything could happen!
Squad (Averages and position rank for IPL 2023 included)
Rovman Powell – Batsman (AVG 13, Rank 40th)
Jos Buttler – Wicket-Keeper (AVG 40, Rank 5th)
Tom Kohler-Cadmore– Wicket-Keeper (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Sanju Samson – Wicket-Keeper (AVG 38, Rank 7th)
Dhruv Jurel – Wicket-Keeper (AVG 14, Rank 18th)
Kunal Rathore – Wicket-Keeper (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Abid Mushtaq – All-rounder (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Donovan Ferreira – All-rounder (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Riyan Parag – All-rounder (AVG 14, Rank 46th)
Nandre Burger – All-rounder (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Shubham Dubey – Batsman (AVG N/A, Rank N/A)
Shimron Hetmyer – Batsman (AVG 33, Rank 18th)
Yashasvi Jaiswal – Batsman (AVG 61, Rank 3rd)
Ravichandran Ashwin – All-rounder (AVG 34, Rank 24th)
Trent Boult – Bowler (AVG 45, Rank 7th)
Navdeep Saini – Bowler (AVG 34, Rank 28th)
Sandeep Sharma – Bowler (AVG 27, Rank 46th)
Kuldeep Sen – Bowler (AVG 3, Rank 83rd)
Avesh Khan – Bowler (AVG 26, Rank 47th)
Yuzvendra Chahal – Bowler (AVG 37, Rank 19th)
Adam Zampa – Bowler (AVG 35, Rank 26th)
IPL 2023 stats from RR home matches played at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium
Five games played; RR won one of them
Team winning the toss won two matches
Team batting first won four matches
Average first innings score of 172 (lowest 118 / highest 214)
Batter GDS average 27 points per match
All-rounder GDS average 32 points per match
Bowler GDS average 27 points per match
Wicketkeeper GDS average 32 points per match
51 wickets taken by bowlers, 24 to seam and 27 to spin
Batters
India’s golden child and Rajasthan Royals leading run scorer from 2023 will look to back up his incredible season from just a year ago! Yashasvi Jaiswal was immense in pink in 2023, averaging 48 runs per inning, good enough for an eye-watering 60.8 GDS fantasy average per game. To add to the allure of the young prodigy, Jaiswal is coming off a player of the series performance on the test cricket stage against England just a couple of weeks ago, he averaged an alien 89 runs per inning through the series. He’s one of, if not the biggest young talent in world cricket for a reason, and he should absolutely be selected in your GameDay Squad!
The man mountain and West Indies white ball captain Rovman Powell gears up for another IND Cricket season. Powell hasn’t managed to set the biggest stage in T20 cricket alight just yet, but he has all the power and talent in the world to become a force in the league. He only averaged 12.7 GDS fantasy points per game last year, however, I expect him to take his game to another level in 2024! Leave him out at your own peril.
Bowlers
Left arm pacer Trent Boult will suit up for his 9th season in a row in the IPL and will brig a wealth of experience to this Rajasthan side! Boult will get his 4 overs every innings but bring another aspect of his games each and every time he plays that other bowlers don't posses. Boult is one of the best fielders in the competition and always finds away to impact the game in the field! Boult averaged 44.8 GDS fantasy points per game in 2023, ranking as the 7th overall bowler for points per game and I expect him to be around the same mark again in 2024!
All-rounders
We've spoken about a gargantuan name in Jos Butler, and a man threatening to one day become the biggest name in world cricket but none are bigger than Ravichandran Ashwin! When it's all said and done, Ravi Ashwin will go down as one of the greatest to grace a pitch, but until then, we still get to witness his greatness live! Ashwin has only missed one season since 2009 and will amass over 200 IPL matches after the 2024 season is finished. His experience and skill will take your GameDay Squad a long way as Ashwin looks to better his 33.4 GDS average in 2023!
Wicket Keeper
It’s without a doubt that Jos Butler is Englands best ever white ball cricketer, and he’s set up to take the 2024 IND Cricket season by storm once again! Butler should find himself opening the batting with Jaiswal and the pair could very well make a case for the most exciting opening partnership in the tournament! I expect Butler to wear the gloves, even with exciting prospect Dhruv Jurel waiting in the wings. Butler is a star, and that fact remains. Speaking of Dhruv Jurel, he might not wear the gloves over super star teammate Jos Butler, but I expect him to find a position in the starting XI and perform as he did against England in the most recent test series. Jurel only played 4 innings for the series but stepped up massively on the biggest stage multiple times and averaged 63 runs per innings for the series! In 2023, Jurel averaged 21.74 runs per game in his rookie season at a GDS average of 14.4 ppg. Jurel is a player i'll be keeping a close eye on in the early stages of the tournament!
Predicted Starting XI
1. Jos Buttler
2. Yashasvi Jaiswal
3. Sanju Samson
4. Rovman Powell
5. Shimron Hetmyer
6. Dhruv Jurel
7. Riyan Parag
8. Ravichandran Ashwin
9. Yuzvendra Chahal
10. Trent Boult
11. Kuldeep Sen
Impact Player: Donovan Ferreira