The Rajasthan Royals (RR) are going to face a very crucial Indian Premier League (IPL) season as they will not have the service of Sanju Samson. In place of Samson, Riyan Parag will lead the team in the season.
Along with the captain, Riyan Parag, emerging opener Yashasvi Jaiswal will be under the spotlight as he can play standout knocks under any circumstances. The team’s future in the IPL 2026 will be heavily dependent on the opener. But, if the batter goes through a bad patch, who will be there to help the team proceed further in the campaign? This article aims to find out three cricketers other than Yashasvi Jaiswal who can make a difference for RR.
3 players could power RR to IPL 2026 glory
Riyan Parag
Riyan Parag, the RR captain himself, is well capable of making a difference. The Rajasthan Royals have high hopes for their homegrown talents. Parag has been with the team since 2019 and knows very well what the team wants from him.
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Season by season, the middle-order batter improved his batting stats as well. In the previous season, he scored 393 runs for an average of 32.75 in 14 matches. When Samson missed multiple matches because of repeated injuries, Parag was named the stopgap captain of the team.
| Tournament | Team | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s | Ct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPL | RR | 84 | 72 | 12 | 1566 | 95 | 26.10 | 1104 | 141.84 | 0 | 7 | 111 | 87 | 45 |
Shimron Hetmyer
This batter from the West Indies is among the most renowned Twenty20 format batters across the globe. Any day, under any circumstances, Shimron Hetmyer can single-handedly change the color of a match. During the T20 World Cup 2026, the left-handed batter played a couple of explosive knocks for the West Indies cricket team.
Against Zimbabwe, he played an 85-run knock, and against Nepal, the batter produced an undefeated 46-run innings. In the previous season with RR, he scored 239 runs, powered by a half-century in 14 matches.
| Tournament | Team | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s | Ct |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPL | RR, RCB, DC | 86 | 79 | 28 | 1482 | 75 | 29.05 | 976 | 151.84 | 0 | 5 | 93 | 93 | 45 |
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
The list will remain incomplete without mentioning the batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who lit up the IPL 2025 with his exceptional attacking batting approach. The 14-year-old talent concluded the IPL 2025 season with an amazing strike rate of 206.56. After participating in 7 matches, the opener accumulated 252 runs, including a mind-blowing 101-run knock.
Ahead of the IPL 2026, he was in tremendous form for the U-19 Indian cricket team during the U-19 World Cup. In the final of the tournament, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi registered a record-breaking century against England to win the summit clash.
It will not be wrong to say that apart from Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi can be the trump card for the Rajasthan Royals in the upcoming season of the Indian Premier League, which will begin from March 28.
| Tournament | Team | Mat | Inns | NO | Runs | HS | Ave | BF | SR | 100s | 50s | 4s | 6s | St |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IPL | RR | 7 | 7 | 0 | 252 | 101 | 36.00 | 122 | 206.55 | 1 | 1 | 18 | 24 | 0 |
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