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    Kris Srikkanth picks RR’s playing 12 for IPL 2026; leaves out discarded Team India pacer

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    Runfyers
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    Former Indian captain Kris Srikkanth picked his ideal Rajasthan Royals (RR) playing 12 for the start of the upcoming IPL 2026 season (via his YouTube channel). Discarded Team India pacer Tushar Deshpande was a surprising omission from the lineup, considering the franchise retained him for ₹6.50 crore.

    The pacer struggled last season, picking up nine wickets in 10 matches at an average of 37.77 and an economy of 10.62.

    Meanwhile, Srikkanth’s lineup had the left-handed duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi opening the batting. West Indian left-hander Shimron Hetmyer followed the pair at No.3 and skipper Riyan Parag at No.4.

    Wicketkeeper batter Dhruv Jurel came in at No.5, followed by star all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who RR traded for in the off-season, at No.6.

    South African big-hitter Donovan Ferreira rounded off Srikkanth’s RR top seven for IPL 2026.

    The bowling featured ace England pacer Jofra Archer, followed by South African left-arm seamer Nandre Burger. Veteran pacer Sandeep Sharma completed the seam-bowling trio, with former No.1-ranked T20I bowler Ravi Bishnoi, as the second spinner to Jadeja.

    Srikkanth went with big-hitting left-hander Shubham Dubey as his Impact Sub, thanks to the latter’s impressive strike rate of over 160 in IPL 2025.

    Kris Srikkanth’s RR playing 12 for IPL 2026

    Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Donovan Ferreira, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Ravi Bishnoi, Sandeep Sharma

    Impact Sub: Shubham Dubey

    RR look to bounce back from torrid IPL 2025 season

    RR endured one of their worst IPL campaign last year, finishing second from bottom in the standings. Despite being competitive in most of their matches, they won only four out of their 14 outings.

    It resulted in the franchise trading their skipper and all-time leading run-scorer, Sanju Samson, to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the off-season. RR welcomed Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran in return, yet the latter has already been ruled out of the competition with injury.

    Having missed the playoffs in two out of the last three IPL seasons, the 2008 champions will look to bounce back under new captain Riyan Parag in the upcoming edition. Their IPL 2026 campaign begins with a much-anticipated clash against CSK in Guwahati on March 30.