Just like some of the other teams in the competition, RR start IPL 2026 on the wrong footing. A – they have already lost Sam Curran to an injury, B – they play their opening game against CSK on March 30, in Guwahati, so there would be no home advantage for sure. Taking this further, in a very, very long time, the Royals will be sans Sanju Samson, which could be a little tough to deal with.
4 wins in IPL 2025 was a just a poor reflection of how the team struggled entire 2025 season; just nothing went right for them. This time around, under the leadership of Riyan Parag, they would have the arduous task of at least making it to the playoffs. But all that solely depends on their playing XI. So, let’s have a look at the RR predicted playing XI vs CSK.
All eyes on Vaibhav Suryavanshi
After a very long time, RR seem to have found a player who can change things around for the Royals. Last year, when he was 14, Vaibhav Suryavanshi went on to hit IPL’s second-fastest ton. But then the pressure this time will be immense, after bowlers would have figured out where to bowl to him. Last year in 7 matches he went on to score 252 runs at an average of 36.. strike-rate was up at 206.
Yashasvi Jaiswal would be the second opener with him, without any iota of doubt. He was excellent in 2025, getting 559 runs at an average of 43.
Must-have Donovan Ferreira
Going further, Riyan Parag comes in at no. 3. He scored 393 runs including a 95 last year, and wasn’t bad at all. But then a better effort is what is required from the skipper. Following him would be Dhruv Jurel, who had a breakthrough season in 2025, and Shimron Hetmyer as well.
Hetty has been struggling to get going in the IPL, but had a tremendous T20 World Cup, and can be banked upon again. But one player who would really add some firepower towards the backend of RR innings would be Donovan Ferreira. In 141 T20s, he has scored over 2500 runs, at a strike rate of 167. He can roll his arm over as well, and is a handy off spinner.
Milne vs Archer?
Despite bagging 11 wickets in the T20 World Cup 2026, Archer had an economy of almost 10. So should he really be really leading the attack for RR; Last season too, for Royals, he had an economy of over 9. Instead New Zealand’s Adam Milne can be an option as well. This year in SA20, he picked up 11 wickets, where his economy rate was only 7.61.
Predicted playing XI for RR in IPL 2026
- Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Dasun Shanaka, Ravi Bishnoi, Sandeep Sharma, Adam Milne.
RR full squad
RR full squad: Riyan Parag (C), Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Lhuan-Dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Aman Perala, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, Adam Milne, Brijesh Sharma, Jofra Archer, Kuldeep Sen, Kwena Maphaka, Nandre Burger, Ravi Bishnoi, Sandeep Sharma, Dasun Shanka (replacement).
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