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. Nevertheless, 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.
Nevertheless, the Rajasthan Royals traded Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, and Donovan Ferreira within the off-season. In addition they acquired spinner Ravi Bishnoi and Adam Milne on 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 may 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 highest 4, the best way he batted within the World Cup, he needs to be in the highest 4. Give the ending responsibilities to Donovan Ferreira and Ravindra Jadeja. I hope they go onto do this. RR have most bases covered. I believe RR find themselves with so many options within the playing XI,” he added.
“I’m going with Yashasvi Jaiswal as RR’s best batter for the season” – R Ashwin
Nevertheless, 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 many 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’ll come into the season with some serious hunger, he was faraway from the T20 squad. His hunger is something else, so I’ll pick him,” R Ashwin again said.
“For the perfect bowler, I’ll go together with Ravi Bishnoi. DId not have an awesome season at LSG, I believe he’ll show the world and all of us that it was an enormous miss putting him back within the auction. They’re contenders for the highest 4, they’ll come anywhere at 4,5, or 6,” R Ashwin concluded.
Get the newest cricket news here, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.