Rajasthan Royals (RR) will lock horns against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Tuesday (September 21) to begin their proceedings in the 2020 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
The Royals had failed to recapitulate the heights attained in 2008 when they won the championship title in the very first attempt.
Recently, former India cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar, came up with his ideal playing XI for the Steve Smith-led side and remarked that the team doesn’t inspire much confidence in him.
Gavaskar picked Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal as the opening pair for the franchise.
“I will go for Yashasvi Jaiswal to open with Jos Buttler because he is a left-hander as well,” Gavaskar told Sports Tak.
RR skipper Steve Smith, Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag occupy No. 3, No. 4 and No. 5 slots respectively.
“Steve Smith will come at No.3 with Sanju Samson coming in at No.4 and Riyan Parag can come at No.5.”
The cricketer-turned commentator added Manan Vohra as the sixth batsman and said that the latter had scored a lot of runs while plying his trade for Kings XI Punjab (KXIP).
“You can play Manan Vohra at No.6 who has experience of having played for Kings XI Punjab, where he was scoring runs,” he added.
RR would have surely reached playoffs with Ben Stokes, feels Gavaskar
Gavaskar further reckoned that Ben Stokes’ unavailability for the initial phase of the tournament is a major setback to the franchise. To the unversed, Stokes is currently with his ailing father in New Zealand.
“They have a lot of options but if Ben Stokes had been available for them you would have said with surety that this team will definitely reach the knockout stage. But because he is not available, there is a doubt if they can reach the knockout stage.”
On the bowling front, Gavaskar opted for Jofra Archer to spearhead the pace attack consisting of Andrew Tye and Jaydev Unadkat. Shreyas Gopal and Mayank Markande will look after the spin department of RR.
Sunil Gavaskar’s ideal playing XI for Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Steve Smith (c), Sanju Samson (wk), Riyan Parag, Manan Vohra, Andrew Tye, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Mayank Markande, Jaydev Unadkat
