After trading Sanju Samson to the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League 2026 Trade window, the question is, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, or Vaibhav Suryavanshi – Who will lead Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026? Basically, the Indian Premier League 2026 will be the 19th edition of the competition. It starts on the 26th of March 2026 and will end on the 31st of May 2026.
It was the first edition of the Indian Premier League, way back in 2008, when the Rajasthan Royals were crowned champions after they defeated the Chennai Super Kings in the final. After that, they haven’t impressed in the competition. They could only reach the finals in the 2022 edition, where they were defeated by the debutant Gujarat Titans in the final. Over the years, the team has changed many captains and players, but couldn’t cross the finishing line.
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Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, or Vaibhav Suryavanshi – Who will lead Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2026?
This year will be special for Ravindra Jadeja as he finally returns to the team from where it all started for him. He and Sam Curran were traded by the Chennai Super Kings for Sanju Samson by the Rajasthan Royals. He will be one of the options for the management to give the captaincy role for the Rajasthan Royals at the Indian Premier League 2026 edition. The player has a lot of experience and is the most experienced player in the squad. He also captained the Chennai Super Kings in 2022, and the record does not seem to be impressive. Jadeja captained CSK for just eight matches and had lost six and won two. Later, Mahendra Singh Dhoni took over the role and became the captain for the remaining matches.
Another player and one of the favourites to lead the Rajasthan Royals team in the Indian Premier League 2026 edition has to be Yashasvi Jaiswal. He is surely the frontrunner to become the captain of the team. Yashasvi Jaiswal has proved his worth and surely should be given the team to lead. The franchise would also think about the future, as the team can be built around him for the next eight to ten years, as he has a lot of cricket left in him. Yashasvi Jaiswal is still fresh in captaining the team, but we have seen that first-timers should do more than what has been expected from them.
Other players apart from Yashasvi Jaiswal, who could be the next captain of the Rajasthan Royals, could be the young 14-year-old, Vaibhav Suryavanshi. He is surely the last option to choose from, as he is still young and lacks the maturity to lead a franchise, but what he has done at such a young age, you surely can’t rule out anything from the player. Vaibhav Suryavanshi will also be the core for the Rajasthan Royals team if he is not the captain, and will also be looked at as the future of the franchise. He was purchased for ₹1.10 crore and was retained by the Rajasthan Royals going into the IPL 2026 auction. The youngster is doing unbelievable things in under-19 cricket as he just smashed a 15-ball century and broke Rishabh Pant’s record for the fastest fifty by an Indian in youth ODIs.