Former India spinner R Ashwin picked only three overseas players in his initial playing XI of the Rajasthan Royals (RR) for the franchise as well. However, RR have a new-look team after the captain, Sanju Samson, and head coach, Rahul Dravid, left the franchise after a poor Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 campaign.
However, the Rajasthan Royals traded Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, and Donovan Ferreira in the off-season. They also acquired spinner Ravi Bishnoi and Adam Milne at the IPL 2026 auction as well.
And, R Ashwin also said that the additions of Ravindra Jadeja and Donovan Ferreira strengthen the lower middle-order, and this will allow Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, and Dhruv Jurel to bat higher up the batting order as well. He also named Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, and Donovan Ferreira as his three overseas players of the team as well.
“Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Shubham Dubey, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Ravi Bishnoi, Sandeep Sharma,” R Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. “I hope Shimron Hetmyer bats in the top four, the way he batted in the World Cup, he should be in the top four. Give the finishing responsibilities to Donovan Ferreira and Ravindra Jadeja. I hope they go onto do that. RR have most bases covered. I think RR find themselves with so many options in the playing XI,” he added.
“I’m going with Yashasvi Jaiswal as RR’s best batter for the season” – R Ashwin
However, he also backs swashbuckling opener Yashasvi Jaiswal to shine in IPL 2026 after failing to make it into the T20 World Cup 2026 team as well. Among the bowlers, he also expects young spinner Ravi Bishnoi to make an impression.
“I’m going with Yashasvi Jaiswal as RR’s best batter for the season. He will come into the season with some serious hunger, he was removed from the T20 squad. His hunger is something else, so I will pick him,” R Ashwin again said.
“For the best bowler, I’ll go with Ravi Bishnoi. DId not have a great season at LSG, I think he will show the world and all of us that it was a big miss putting him back in the auction. They are contenders for the top four, they can come anywhere at 4,5, or 6,” R Ashwin concluded.
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