former indian cricketer Irfan Pathan Rajasthan Royals (RR) explosive openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi have been lauded as the faces of the franchise ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. The two were fielded together for the first time in the middle of the 2025 campaign.
Rajasthan Royals has long been a franchise that supports young talent. They signed Jaiswal for Rs 2.4 crore even before he played a single T20 match and since then he has become an integral all-format player for India. The 2008 champions also took a big risk by signing Suryavanshi for Rs 1.1 crore during the IPL 2025 mega auction.
Suryavanshi, only 13 years old at the time, became the youngest player to feature in the league and made a significant impact in his debut campaign. With RR finishing ninth in the 2025 edition, expectations are high from the pair to lead the team's resurgence in IPL 2026.
“Who is the face of Rajasthan Royals? The first thing that catches your eye is Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi. The way these two players have progressed their careers is commendable. When you are young, you lack experience and sometimes when you come in front of a big player, you are seen on the back foot. But this was not the case in his case, Suryavanshi immediately ignored the age factor and has carved a unique niche for himself. There is a lot of responsibility on both of them and in a very short time they have become the face of Rajasthan,” Pathan said on his YouTube channel.
Pathan also praised RR's strong Indian core, which has been further strengthened by the inclusion of all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja. The franchise has consistently retained Dhruv Jurel, Ryan Parag and Jaiswal to maintain a solid Indian spine.
“When you look at this team you can see a clear Indian core, where there is a good mix of experience and inexperience. If you talk about Yashasvi Jaiswal, he brings experience with him, Riyan Parag has also been playing for many years, and he will be the captain now. Dhruv Jurel is also experienced now and the arrival of Ravindra Jadeja means the Indian core has a lot of experience,” Pathan said.
Get every cricket update! Follow us: :
Leave a Reply