Newly converted fans of Dhruv Jurel and Yashasvi Jaiswal as well as long-time fans of R. Ashwin, Jos Butler and Yuzvendra Chahal will not want to miss Sunday afternoon's Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 contest between the Rajasthan Royals under the leadership of captain and wicketkeeper Sanju Samson, and the Lucknow Super Giants led by captain-wicketkeeper KL Rahul. Coin toss is at 3pm, and play begins at 3.30pm at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Here's what you need to know about the RR team, team history, and players to watch:
Rajasthan Royals: Team strengths, evolution
Rajasthan Royals are a dark horse in the 2024 edition of the Indian Premier League. They have evolved in the past two years. The Royals finished runners-up in 2022 and missed the playoffs by a whisker last year.
Rajasthan Royals: New players, key players
RR, the champions of the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008, have solid batting depth and bowling options to fire on all cylinders. The franchise spent Rs 14.3 crore at the auction to recruit five players.
West Indies T20I captain Rovman Powell (Rs 7.4 crore) and uncapped Indian cricketer Shubham Dubey (Rs 5.8 crore) were the big signings.
The Royals retained India's new star, Yashasvi Jaiswal, for Rs 4 crore. The left-handed opener had a great run in the five-match Test series against England, where he finished with 712 runs at an average of 89. Jaiswal hammered 625 runs, including a hundred, in the last season of the IPL and will be keen to maintain the beast mode.
The presence of England wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler and captain Sanju Samson helps the youngsters. The veterans of 96 and 152 IPL matches, respectively, have scored seven hundreds. Buttler smashed four of them, while Samson three.
Assam youngster Riyan Parag, the leading run-scorer of Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 with 510 runs, could explode this season. He is also a handy legbreak bowler who can be the sixth bowler.
Besides, Avesh Khan and Trent Boult are lethal pacers to start the proceedings, followed by the spin of R. Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal.
RR probable XI: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (capt./wk), Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan
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