The franchise had a disappointing last season, missing a playoff berth after finishing runners-up in IPL 2022.
The upcoming season of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2024) is on the horizon and the teams are busy with their penultimate preparations in a bid to lift the coveted trophy. Inaugural IPL winners Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be hoping to win the elusive second title when they take the field in the new edition.
After coming close to winning it in IPL 2022 only to finish as runners-up, the franchise had a disappointing last season, finishing just outside the Top 4 at fifth. They will be hoping to turn around their fortunes and former India cricketer turned analyst Aakash Chopra also feels optimistic about their chances.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra was quizzed about Rajasthan Royals’ chances of lifting the IPL 2024 trophy, considering they have excellent openers in Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal and a spin-bowling attack comprising the likes of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Chopra said, “Is it a side that can lift the trophy? They can do that, it’s a good team, but whether they would lift the trophy or not will depend on whether they will use the Impact Player or not.”
RR have bolstered their squad by trading in Avesh Khan from the Lucknow Super Giants and acquiring five other players, including Rovman Powell (INR 7.40 crore) and Shubham Dubey (INR 5.80 crore) at last December’s auction in Dubai.
On the other hand, RR is likely to use India’s latest Test debutant Dhruv Jurel as a batting Impact Player this season. In the bowling department, either Prasidh Krishna or Yuzvendra Chahal could be the Impact Player, given that neither is that effective with the bat.
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The Royals were the inaugural IPL champions. Since then, they have qualified for the playoff stage only four times, with the 2022 edition seeing their only other entry into the final.
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