Rajasthan Royals have been the ultimate under-dog in Indian Premier League right from the day it began. This will not change this season as well; Royals have never had a strong team but are known to utilize each player to its limit. Rajasthan Royals were the winners of the inaugural IPL and surprised everyone. They themselves wouldn’t have expected them to play so well as they lacked the star element in their side. In 2009, they finished sixth and they finished seventh and sixth in the previous two years. Last year, Rajasthan were right into the contention for a semifinal berth but missed out merely.

This year will be a bit different for the Royals, for the first time in their IPL history Rajasthan will not be captained by the legendary Aussie leg-spinner Shane Warne. Warne is considered to be the best captain that Australia never had and he is the only reason why some of the local lads from Rajasthan turned out to be so good. If Arsenal is known for investing in local talent in the English Premier League, then it has to be the Royals from the Indian league that banks on their local lads.

Rajasthan will again be trying to pull the rabbit out of the hat and are very much capable of doing that.

Batting:

International Players: The explosive Aussie Shane Watson will open the innings for the Royals for the fifth consecutive time. Watson is one of the most devastating batsmen in world cricket and his massive built can intimidate any opposition bowler. Watson is a key member for the Royals and he has to do well to take Rajasthan into the semifinals. Watson will be supported by Bradley Hodge and Owais Shah -- both these players have a somewhat similar style of batting. Both likes to get their eyes in and looks to capitalize in the later half. Both, Hodge and Shah can clear the boundary ropes easily and will be an asset to the Rajasthan team. Rajasthan have also roped in Paul Collingwood and Dinesh Chandimal but both these men can find it difficult to make it to the playing eleven.

Domestic Players: Rahul Dravid will captain Rajasthan Royals this time and will also lead their batting line-up. Dravid may not look most menacing but sure is very effective, He has a healthy strike rate in this competition and his experience can help any side. Dravid has the ability to hit the good bowlers out of the park and have a good record in all the IPL’s. Ajinkya Rahane played some terrific innings and England and has been a serious contender for the national side from then. He looks to take the attack to the bowlers very early in his innings and has a good technique to back his ability. Ashok Menaria and Abhishek Raut have prolific run-getters in the domestic circuit and will be hoping to take their form into this year’s IPL.

Bowling

International Players: The Royals bowling attack will be lead by Shaun Tait from Australia. Tait with his slinging action can be wayward on occasion but whenever he gets it right he is unplayable. Tait can bowl at a speed of 150 regularly and has deadly Yorkers. Tait also has the ability to reverse swing the old ball. South Afria T20 captain Johan Botha is a vital cog in the Royals bowling line-up. Botha is a wily off-spinner and can bowl in the field restriction. He is very handy with the bat and played some good innings for the Royals last time around. Brad Hogg may have retired from the international circuit but has proven that he still can be very effective. Hogg is one of the oldest player in this season and made a comeback to the T20 circuit in Australia Big Bash tournament. His chinamen can confuse batsmen and he will be very difficult to hit as most batsmen would not be accustomed to his style of bowling.

Domestic Players: Rajasthan has a new addition to their bowling line-up in the form of Sreesanth. Sreesanth has shown that he can be erratic at times but when he bowls with a cool head he can do wonders. Siddharth Trivedi has been one of the most consistent performers for Royals in all the IPL’s. He with the cutters that he bowls is very effective and will once again be trusted at crucial juncture. Rajasthan also have Amit Singh and Pankaj Singh in their armory and both of them are effective.

Players to watch out from Rajasthan Royals: Rahul Dravid, Shane Watson, Johan Botha

Rajasthan Royals Complete Squad: Rahul Dravid, Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, P Collingwood, Johan Botha, Bradley Hodge, Brad Hogg, Dinesh Chandimal, Kevon Cooper, Owais Shah, Sreesanth, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Menaria, Faiz Fazal, Stuart Binny, Siddharth Trivedi, Abhishek Raut, Pankaj Singh, Amit Singh, Amit Paunikar, Ankeet Chavan, Aditya Dole, Deepak Chahar, Dishant Yagnik, Samad Fallah, Gajendra Singh, Shreevats Goswami, Ajith Chandela.

By Gaurav Jha

Indian Sports News