CSK’s veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who is known to have made an impact with both bat and ball, has moved to his former franchise, Rajasthan Royals. He started his IPL career with the franchise in 2008 and was part of the Shane Warne-led side that won the IPL’s first title.
Sanju Samson (traded to Chennai Super Kings), Nitish Rana (traded to Delhi Capitals), Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya and Ashok Sharma were the players released by the Royals in various ways.
Ravindra Jadeja is the frontrunner for the captaincy of the Rajasthan Royals
As revealed since talks of Ravindra Jadeja’s possible swap were sparked, there have been speculations claiming that he may be roped in as the new skipper of the Rajasthan Royals for the next season.
Sanju Samson, the former skipper, was traded in a trade with the CSK team; hence the captain’s spot was vacant within the team. Rajasthan Royals have players like Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel and Yashasvi Jaiswal who could become the new Royals skipper.
According to a report in the Times of India, Jadeja is now considered one of the top choices for captaincy for the upcoming season of IPL. This has shocked everyone to some extent as the other three options previously mentioned looked quite young to be considered a long-term option, but that doesn’t seem to be the case for Jadeja, who is 37 years old.
Jadeja officially becomes Captain after the mini-auction
Back in the IPL, Ravindra Jadeja was handed the leadership duties of Chennai Super Kings in 2022 as talk of MS Dhoni’s leadership reached a high pitch. However, after a few losses, the all-rounder succumbed to the pressure and quit the captaincy.
“Jadeja will take the reins. The announcement will be made in two months,” a source told TOI. Now, it could be the captaincy that pushed Ravindra Jadeja to join the Rajasthan Royals as he even agreed to a huge pay cut of INR 4 crore to join the Royals.
Ravindra Jadeja was retained for INR 18 Crores by the Chennai Super Kings, but in his exchange with Sanju Samson, who was also worth 18 Crores, the Super Kings had to trade alongside Sam Curran as Jadeja was offered 14 Crores by the Royals.
Royals will renew the team with sufficient funds
While the Rajasthan Royals’ batting order looks more expansive than before despite the departure of their former skipper, they should still target some or at least a few big names in the mini-auction.
You can be a real middle-order batsman like Josh Inglis or a strong finisher like Andre Russell. The Royals lost most of their crunch games last season as they lacked some firepower at the back and were completely dependent on Shimron Hetmyer.
With a purse of Rs 16.05 crores and only two mandatory spots left to reach the required number of 18 players, the Royals may want to bring in at least one of those big names.
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