Rajasthan Royals coach Rahul Dravid interacts with Nitish Rana during a practice session in Guwahati.
| Photo Credit: FILE PHOTO: RITU RAJ KONWAR
Imagine Jaipur without the Amber Fort.
Imagining Rajasthan Royals without Jos Buttler is just about as difficult. The white-ball master from England has been like a resolute, intimidating fort at the top of the order for Royals for the last seven years.
Tough decision
Captain Sanju Samson has said the decision to let Buttler go was not easy. It never can be, to relieve someone with 3,055 runs and seven hundreds, from 83 games, at an average of 41.84 and a strike rate of 147.79.
Yuzvendra Chahal and Trent Boult, who took 34 wickets between them last year, won’t be there, either.
In the absence of the talented trio, it will indeed be interesting to see how the new coach Rahul Dravid rejigs the eleven, as he takes over Kumar Sangakkara.
Homecoming
For the former India skipper, it is a homecoming. He was, in fact, the captain when Samson made his debut for Royals.
Samson looks almost certain to take over from Buttler in the opener’s slot. He showed how explosive he can be in that position when he was given an opportunity in the Indian team last year: all his three T20I hundreds came as an opener.
If he recaptures such form, and his partner Yashasvi Jaiswal gets going, it should be fun.
Few batting duos could match their artistry at the IPL. The Royals need some great starts from them.
They also would want Nitish Rana, who has moved from Kolkata Knight Riders at a price of ₹4.2 crore, to make plenty of runs.
Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer and Shubham Dubey lend skills and power to the middle order.
The return of Jofra Archer should gladden the Royals team management.
The Jamaica-born England fast bowler was brilliant in his first three seasons at Jaipur, claiming 46 wickets, before he got injured.
The seam bowling department also features the wily Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Akash Madhwal and the exciting young South African left-armer Kwena Maphaka, while spin has a Sri Lankan flavour in Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana.
The new-look Royals will be hoping to build on last year’s finish when it lost in the Qualifier.
Published – March 14, 2025 11:38 pm IST
