Rajasthan Royals brought Ravindra Jadeja into the team in a trade from Chennai Super Kings and ever since the transfer, Jadeja’s name has come up in the Rajasthan Royals captaincy race.
CSK’s veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who is well known for his 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 team that won the first IPL title.
Sanju Samson (traded to Chennai Super Kings), Nitish Rana (traded to Delhi Capitals), Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Teekshana, Fazalhaq Farooqui, Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya and Ashok Sharma are among the players who were released by the Royals in various ways.
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Ravindra Jadeja is the frontrunner to captain Rajasthan Royals
There has been speculation that he could be named the new captain of Rajasthan Royals next season, as has become clear ever since talks began over a possible exchange with Ravindra Jadeja.
Former captain Sanju Samson was replaced in a trade with the CSK team. As a result, the captain’s position became vacant within the team. Rajasthan Royals have players like Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel and Yashasvi Jaiswal who could be the new captain of Royals.
According to a report in the Times of India, Jadeja is currently considered as one of the frontrunners to be captain for the next season of the IPL. This came as some amount of shock as the other three options listed above seemed too young to be considered long-term options, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with the 37-year-old Jadeja.
After the mini-auction, Jadeja will be officially named captain.
Back in the IPL, Ravindra Jadeja has been given the leadership task of Chennai Super Kings in 2022, when talk of MS Dhoni’s leadership is heating up. However, after some losses, the all-rounder succumbed to pressure and resigned from the captaincy.
“Jadeja will be given the reins. An announcement will be made within two months,” TOI quoted sources as saying. Now, Ravindra Jadeja may have joined the Rajasthan Royals because of his captaincy, as he agreed to a huge pay cut of Rs 40 crore to join the Royals.
Ravindra Jadeja was retained by Chennai Super Kings for Rs 18 million, but in exchange for Sanju Samson, who was also worth Rs 18 million, the Super Kings had to also trade Sam Curran as Royals offered Jadeja Rs 140 million.
Royals to revamp team with enough money
Despite the former captain’s departure, Rajasthan Royals’ batting order looks more comprehensive than before, but they will still need to target some, or at least a few, big names in the mini-auction.
One could be a proper middle-order hitter like Josh Inglis, or a strong finisher like Andre Russell. The Royals lost most of their key games last season because they lacked firepower on the back end and relied entirely on Shimron Hetmyer.
With $16.05 billion available and only two mandatory spots remaining to reach the required 18 players, the Royals may be looking to sign at least one of these big names.
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