Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra raised serious concerns for the 2008 winners, Rajasthan Royals (RR), before the 19th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) begins on March 28. Chopra evaluated the RR team and highlighted its advantages, disadvantages, chances, and threats for IPL 2026 in a video posted on X.
-1774087634598_d.png "IPL 2026: Aakash Chopra raises questions over RR chances after Curran injury")
Aakash Chopra (Pic:X)
Former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra raised serious concerns for the 2008 winners, Rajasthan Royals (RR), before the 19th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) begins on March 28. Chopra evaluated the RR team and highlighted its advantages, disadvantages, chances, and threats for IPL 2026 in a video posted on X.
Chopra believes that Curran's absence will have a big impact on RR's title chances this season. He further added that the Rajasthan-based franchise will miss the Englishman's all-round ability.
“Sam Curran's absence has made the challenge much bigger. Who will bat at No. 8? Will that problem trouble them once again? They might have to play Nandre Burger,” Chopra said.
Despite Curran's loss, Chopra believes that RR batting is explosive and can cause problems for the opponents. Chopra further praised Rajasthan's bowling combination and hailed the impact that the spin department can have.
“Rajasthan Royals have explosive firepower in their batting. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Daniel Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, and Jofra Archer,” he added.
“Even in the pace-bowling department, you have bowlers who can operate across different phases. Burger with the new ball… along with Jofra Archer, Sandeep, and Tushar; there's also a bowler in Maphaka. The spin department has also improved. Compared to last year, Jadeja and Bishnoi are very impressive,” Chopra said.
Chopra also said that IPL 2026 will be a big chance for RR captain Riyan Parag to impress with his captaincy skills. The young star has replaced Sanju Samson as the captain of the Rajasthan Royals.
“It's a good opportunity for the captain to make a name for himself… Dhruv Jurel and Yashasvi Jaiswal could end up wearing the Orange Cap. Vaibhav Suryavanshi could shine. As for batting, the team's strategy will be to keep attacking consistently, while in bowling, the focus will be on picking wickets early and again in the middle overs," Chopra said.
RR squad for IPL 2026:
Riyan Parag (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Ravi Bishnoi, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Nandre Burger, Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kwena Maphaka, Adam Milne, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Donovan Ferreira, Sam Curran, Shubham Dubey, Kuldeep Sen, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Sushant Mishra, Yudhvir Singh, Kunal Singh Rathore, Yash Punja, Ashok Sharma, Vignesh Puthur, Aman Rao, Ravi Singh, Brijesh Sharma
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