The brand-new season of the Indian Premier League is just a few days away from getting underway. IPL 2023 kicks off on 31 March with a match between defending champions Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings. All ten teams are geared up for the two-month-long event that will see top players from the world locking horns with each other. While the tournament is yet to start, former India cricketer Mohammed Kaif has made an early prediction.
Kaif has predicted one of the two finalists for IPL 2023. The former India batter who played for Rajasthan Royals in the inaugural edition of the tournament believes his former franchise will make it through to the summit clash once again. Kaif believes that the RR squad has got all the capabilities to reach the finals once again this year. Notably, RR reached the final last year but lost to Gujarat Titans in the summit clash.
“It seems the Rajasthan Royals will reach the final once again because they are an extremely strong team on pape r . I am seeing this team far ahead in the race for the final. They have Ashwin and Yuzi Chahal. Yes Prasidh Krishna, who was a main bowler last time, is injured. Trent Boult picks up wickets with the new ball,” Kaif said.
Notably, the 2008 champions roped in some quality players during the IPL 2023 mini-auction. RR roped in the likes of Joe Root, Jason Holder, Adam Zampa, Donovan Ferreira, and Murugan Ashwin at really good deals. While they got Root and Zampa at their base prices, RR did not have to spend too much on Holder either.
Rajasthan Royals IPL 2023 complete squad: Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Jos Buttler, K.C Cariappa, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Obed Mccoy, R. Ashwin, Riyan Parag, Sa nju Samson, Shimron Hetmyer, Trent Boult, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jason Holder, Donovan Ferreira, Kunal Rathore, Adam Zampa, KM Asif, M Ashwin, Akash Vashisht, Abdul P A, Joe Root.