IPL team preview and top fantasy picks: Steve Smith's RR rely on overseas contingent

The Rajasthan Royals side, led by charismatic Australian batsman Steve Smith, will open their Indian Premier League 2020 (IPL 2020) campaign against Chennai Super Kings on September 22. Their entire squad, barring a few English and Australian cricketers, set bases in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in August itself and began their training sessions a few days later. Through IPL 2020, the winners of the inaugural edition of the tournament will be looking to further decorate their trophy cabinet.

When elegance meets destruction 💥#HallaBol | #RoyalsFamily | #IPL2020 | @AnujRawat_1755 pic.twitter.com/2wgDHBZIvH

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) September 14, 2020

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IPL 2020: Rajasthan Royals team preview

During the IPL 2020 transfer window as well as at the auction in December 2019, the Rajasthan Royals team management revamped their side to a certain extent. Albeit quite a few changes and player exchanges with other franchises, their over-reliability on overseas cricketers remains the same. The Rajasthan Royals IPL 2020 squad composes of several Australian and England cricketers like captain Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler and newcomers to the franchise like Andrew Tye and Sam Curran.

Apart from the heavy presence of Australian and England T20 heavyweights, the Rajasthan Royals also roped in dynamic South African batsman David Miller during the IPL 2020 auction. On paper, their middle-order looks one of the best among all franchises due to the presence of power-hitters like Ben Stokes, Robin Uthappa and new recruit Miller himself.

On the bowling front, all four of Rajasthan Royals specialist spin bowling options are Indian cricketers this season, with youngsters like Rahul Tewatia and Mayank Markande making a cut into their squad. With pitches in the UAE expected to be spin-friendly, one can expect captain Steve Smith to use his limited spin options more frequently as spinners are likely to play a huge role as the tournament proceeds to its crucial stages. Unlike four specialist spinners, the Rajasthan Royals is fuelled by as many as nine genuine pacers along with a fast bowling all-rounder in the form of Ben Stokes.

It is a possibility that RR's emphasis on pacers might let them down this time and their reliance on overseas players might not see them make the playoffs this time. It remains to be seen whether Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Tom Curran and Ben Stokes would be available for selection in the Royals' first 2-3 games due to England's tour of Australia, which is to end on Wednesday.

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Rajasthan Royals squad for IPL 2020

Steve Smith (captain), Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Yashasvi Jaiswal, David Miller, Aniruddha Joshi, Ben Stokes, Riyan Parag, Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Robin Uthappa, Anuj Rawat, Shreyas Gopal, Shashank Singh, Rahul Tewatia, Mayank Markande, Jofra Archer, Varun Aaron, Ankit Rajpoot, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Tom Curran, Oshane Thomas and Akash Singh.

Republic World’s ideal playing XI for Rajasthan Royals

Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Steve Smith (captain), Robin Uthappa, Ben Stokes, David Miller, Jaydev Unadkat, Rahul Tewatia, Akash Singh and Mayank Markande.

Here are some of your best fantasy picks from Rajasthan Royals for your fantasy cricket team which you may not need to change and are players to watch out for - Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson and Jaydev Unadkat. These players are to be used at your discretion and these names have been suggested on the assumption that they are not injured or traded during the course of the competition.

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Image source: IPLT20.COM