IPL 2026: Rajasthan Royals SWOT Analysis
Jointly led by Riyan Parag and Sanju Samson, the inaugural champions finished the 2025 IPL season as one of the bottom-sitters, claiming ninth position with just four wins in 14 games.
As a result, the franchise have made radical changes to their leadership group ahead of the 2026 IPL season. Kumar Sangakkara replaced Rahul Dravid as the head coach, while Riyan Parag will be filling the giant shoes of Sanju Samson as the full-time RR skipper. With so many big changes, RR will be looking to start their new era under Parag by at least making the playoffs.
In this article, we take a look at the SWOT analysis of the inaugural IPL champions Rajasthan Royals ahead of the 2026 Indian Premier League season.
Strength
The batting duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi is perhaps one of the most destructive opening pairing of IPL 2026. Both these batters can torment the opponent with scintillating stroke-play, and have already proved their mettle in the tournament.
The dynamic Yashasvi Jaiswal has already amassed 2166 runs for the Rajasthan Royals at a strike-rate of 152.86, while his young opening partner shocked the entire world with a breakthrough campaign last season, scoring 252 runs in seven games at a strike rate of 206.56.
Another string to their bow is their ability to dominate both seam and spin bowling, making them dangerous not only when the field is up but throughout the crucial middle-overs phase as well.
Apart from the openers, another area where they have significantly improved their squad balance is the all-round department. RR have heavily invested on the likes of Jason Holder and Wanindu Hasaranga, however, the duo disappointed them with middling returns.
Thus, the decision to bring in key all-rounders like Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran and Donnovan Ferreira could work wonders for them this season, given the amount of depth and experience they’ll be adding across all three departments. However, with Sam Curran pulling out of the IPL due to injury – getting a like-for-like replacement would be very difficult with less than a week before Match 1 commences.
Weakness
There are plenty of bowling options in the Rajasthan Royals’ 2026 squad. However, the inaugural season champions have some definite chinks in the armour as far as their bowling department is concerned.
Apart from the injury-prone Jofra Archer, there is a definite lack of quality new ball bowlers – especially among their Indian contingent. South African Nandre Burger can be one of the options, however, that would mean using two overseas slots on seamers.
While their problem in the spin department from last season has been sorted with the arrival of Ravindra Jadeja and Ravi Bishnoi, their death bowling options don’t look too promising (at least on paper).
None of the RR seamers have a good record in the final phase of the game. Although Sam Curran was someone who they could have relied on – especially during this phase – his absence means they have only Jofra (death overs economy – 12.52 in IPL 2025) and Sandeep Sharma (death overs economy – 12.39 in IPL 2025), to control the flow of runs.
Opportunity
Although Sanju Samson could not take RR over the line during his time as the Royals captain, he still had a positive legacy that includes being the only captain since Shane Warne to lead RR to an IPL final. Although his troops lost the ultimate clash to Gujarat Titans, Sanju received massive applause for his leadership qualities.
So, with Riyan Parag taking the baton and shouldering the responsibility of leading this young Rajasthan Royals side, there will be a lot of eyes on Riyan and coach Kumar Sangakkara to get this right – especially considering Parag’s dismal record as stand-in skipper with just two wins in eight.
In terms of uncapped potential, both Tushar Deshpande and Sushant Mishra stand a chance of making the playing XI/XII. While Deshpande provides IPL experience and someone who can also operate in the middle and death overs, with his recent domestic form also holding him in good stead while Sushant Mishra offer them an Indian left-arm seam bowling option in the absence of Sam Curran and also if they don’t want to go with Nandre as the second overseas seamer.
Threat
Although this new season brings new opportunities for head coach Kumar Sangakkara and Riyan Parag as Sanju Samson’s successor, the former’s dismal captaincy record could also pose a major threat to the Royals’ IPL campaign.
Still young, he has the potential to succeed as a leader, however, his past records might play in his mind and keep him under pressure to succeed in this environment and deliver the goods.
Besides, role clarity is another issue with this current squad. While there are a number of match-winners in this Rajasthan Royals squad, they all need role clarity to make an impact in this tournament.
For instance, Shimron Hetmyer, who bats up the order for the West Indies, has blown hot and cold as a finisher for RR in the last two seasons (352 runs, average: 22). It’s still unclear whether the Royals will persist with Hetmyer at the lower middle order or promote him up the order to maximise his spin-hitting prowess.
Even if they promote Hetmyer, the roles of Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja and Donnovan Ferreira may get compromised, as none of these batters give enough confidence as a finisher lower down the order.
Thus, although Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal form a formidable opening pair, the lack of role clarity could certainly affect the Royals’ performance as a batting unit this season.
Probable XI/XII: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Donnovan Ferreira, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande/Shubham Dubey (Impact Sub)
Prediction: 5th
