Former India player Aakash Chopra has picked the Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) probable playing XI for IPL 2026. He included Ravindra Jadeja to bat at No. 8.
RR traded in Jadeja from the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. The spin-bowling all-rounder batted up the order quite often last season.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India opener reckoned that the Rajasthan Royals could have great batting depth in IPL 2026, with Jadeja potentially playing at No. 8.
“What could be the XI? Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, that makes it batting till No. 8,” he said.
While picking Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande and Ravi Bishnoi as the three specialist bowlers in the XI, Chopra suggested a few impact player options.
“Jofra Archer at No. 9, again can bat, Tushar Deshpande can smash as well, and then Ravi Bishnoi. Then you can use Sandeep Sharma, Vignesh Puthur and Shubham Dubey as impact players. I feel that could be this team’s composition,” Chopra observed.
Aakash Chopra opined that the Rajasthan Royals could be one of the most exciting teams to watch in IPL 2026. He added that if their young players are successful with their aggressive approach, it could be a season to remember.
“They won’t take a backward step” – Aakash Chopra on Rajasthan Royals’ potential strategies in IPL 2026
In the same video, Aakash Chopra opined that the Rajasthan Royals would bat aggressively throughout their innings in IPL 2026.
“What will be this team’s strategy? In batting, I feel they won’t take a backward step. Vaibhav Suryavanshi – smasher, Yashasvi Jaiswal – smasher, Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel – smashers, Shimron Hetmyer and Donovan Ferreira – smashers. After that, Sam Curran and Ravindra Jadeja might have the lowest strike rate, but they will have to go and smash at the number given to them,” he said.
The cricketer-turned-commentator added that RR would also look to score big in the middle overs, an area they faltered in the last season.
“So the game plan will be to keep hitting in batting and not to get bogged down in the middle. They will try to make the middle overs also big, because it’s been a problem in the past. That’s why they didn’t win a few games they should have won last season. That is something they can address this time,” Chopra observed.
Aakash Chopra opined that the Rajasthan Royals’ new adopted strategy with the ball could be to look for wickets in the middle overs. He wondered whether Ravi Bishnoi and Ravindra Jadeja could pick up wickets in their combined eight overs, highlighting that it would be fantastic if that were to happen.
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Edited by Kartik Iyer
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