Former Indian opening batsman Aakash Chopra has named the ideal playing XI for the Rajasthan Royals ahead of IPL 2021. Rajasthan Royals, which has appointed a new captain in Sanju Samson, will open their 2021 campaign against the Punjab Kings on 12th April at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Aakash Chopra concentrated on the team’s middle-order, given that the Royals have finalized their opening combination.
Rajasthan Royals’ newly appointed captain Sanju Samson has the responsibility of lifting the franchise as they finished on the bottom of the points table last year. Even though Sanju Samson was the highest run-getter for the team last year, the right-handed batsman has to perform consistently and not be over-reliant on their overseas recruits. It would be a learning curve for the Kerala-born cricketer as he embarks on his maiden captaincy experience.
Aakash Chopra understands that since Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler will open the batting, he picked an all Indian middle-order. The 43-year old opined that captain Sanju Samson would go in at number three, followed by Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, and Shivam Dube. Chopra believes that the Royals could keep Chris Morris, who fetched INR 16.25 crores at the auction, at number seven to strengthen their batting further.
“They have said they will open with Buttler and Stokes. So what can we do? Sanju Samson at three, Riyan Parag at four, Tewatia at five, Dube at six. You might feel it’s not the best four, five and six, I also feel the same. At No.7 you keep Chris Morris,” Aakash told in his Youtube channel.
They should definitely play two overseas fast bowlers: Aakash Chopra
As for the bowling line-up, Aakash Chopra slotted Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, and Kartik Tyagi as frontline bowlers. The 10-Test veteran feels that the Royals could play Jofra Archer and Mustafizur Rahman when they become available. Aakash also underlined that Rajasthan must play two overseas pacers if they are to go all the way in the competition.
“Then you can play four bowlers in which you will have Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi and with Jofra not being there, you can play Mustafizur and Jofra when he comes back. In my opinion, they should definitely play two overseas fast bowlers if this team has to go ahead in this IPL,” he added.
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