IPL 2026: Rajasthan Royals SWOT Analysis

Jointly led by Riyan Parag and Sanju Samson, the Rajasthan Royals finished the 2025 Indian Premier League season as one of the bottom sides, ending in ninth place 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 has replaced Rahul Dravid as the head coach, while Parag is now the full-time RR skipper, with Samson having moved to the Chennai Super Kings. With so many big changes, the inaugural IPL champions will be looking to start this new era by at least making the play-offs.

Here, we present our SWOT analysis for the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the 2026 IPL season.

Strength

The batting duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi is perhaps one of the most destructive opening pairings going into the new season. Both these batters can torment any opposition with scintillating stroke play and have already proved their mettle in the tournament.

The dynamic Jaiswal has already amassed 2,166 runs for the 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 respective bows is the pair’s 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 RR have significantly improved their squad balance is the all-round department. They invested heavily in the likes of Jason Holder and Wanindu Hasaranga, only for the duo to disappoint them with middling returns.

Thus, the decision to bring in key all-rounders like Ravindra Jadeja, Sam Curran, and Donovan 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 Curran pulling out of the IPL due to injury, getting a like-for-like replacement is going to be very difficult, with less than a week before the season commences.

Weakness

There are plenty of bowling options in the RR squad. However, the 2008 champions have some definite chinks in the armour as well, especially 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, particularly among their Indian contingent. South African Nandre Burger can be one of the options, though putting him in the starting XI 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 they could have relied on, his absence means they have only Archer, whose death-overs economy last season was 12.52, and Sandeep Sharma (whose wasn’t much better at 12.39) to control the flow of runs. 

Opportunity

Although Sanju Samson could not take RR over the line during his time as Royals captain, he has still left behind a positive legacy, which includes being the only captain since Shane Warne to lead RR to an IPL final. Although his troops lost the ultimate clash to the Gujarat Titans that time, Samson received massive applause for his leadership qualities.

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 both him and coach Kumar Sangakkara to get things right, especially considering Parag’s dismal record as stand-in skipper, with just two wins in eight games.

In terms of uncapped potential, both Tushar Deshpande and Sushant Mishra stand a chance of making the playing XI/XII. Deshpande brings to the table IPL experience and can also operate in the middle and death overs, with his recent domestic form also holding him in good stead. Mishra, meanwhile, offers the team an Indian left-arm seam-bowling option in the absence of Sam Curran, especially should they choose not to go with Nandre Burger 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 as captain, Parag’s dismal captaincy record might pose a major threat to the Royals’ campaign. Still young, Parag does have the potential to succeed as a leader, though his past records may play in his mind and keep him under pressure throughout the season.

Besides, role clarity is another issue with this current squad. While there are a number of match-winners in the camp, they all need clarity in terms of what roles the management will want them to perform in order 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 at an average of 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 Donovan Ferreira may get compromised, as none of these batters give enough confidence as finishers 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, and that may prove just enough to see them miss the play-offs.

Probable XI/XII: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Donovan Ferreira, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Tushar Deshpande/Shubham Dubey (Impact Sub)

Prediction: 5th