Shimron Hetmyer To Be Dropped? Rajasthan Royals Strongest XI vs SRH, IPL 2026, Match 36

Rajasthan Royals [Source: AP]

Rajasthan Royals will be taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in match number 36 of the IPL 2026 season. The match will be hosted by the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Saturday, April 25 and the action will commence from 7:30 PM IST onwards.

The Rajasthan Royals franchise, under the leadership of Riyan Parag, is currently trailing table-toppers Punjab Kings by just one point on the IPL 2026 points table.

Rajasthan Royals vs SRH Preview

The Rajasthan Royals franchise started off the IPL 2026 season with four wins in a row. However, the team got its winning momentum disrupted with successive defeats to the SRH and the KKR in their next two games.

The Royals regained their lost momentum with an emphatic win over LSG on April 22, and they have now accumulated 10 points so far from seven matches at a formidable NRR of 0.790.

Blistering openers Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal, as well as express paceman Jofra Archer and ace spinner Ravi Bishnoi have played significant roles in Royals success off late.

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The SRH franchise, on the other hand, is currently on a three-match winning streak after registering three defeats in their first four matches of the IPL 2026 season. Much of SRH’s success can be attributed to the prolific run of its top-order and middle-order batters like Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Heinrich Klaasen.

Ahead of the match, here is a look at the best probable playing XI of the Rajasthan Royals franchise against the SRH.

Rajasthan Royals Playing XI vs SRH, Match 36

Openers and Top Order (Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel)

Yashasvi Jaiswal and teenage prodigy Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will continue to open the innings for the Rajasthan Royals franchise. The two blistering left-handed openers have aggregated nearly 500 runs between them to emerge as Royals’ most successful batters of the IPL 2026 season so far.

While Sooryavanshi has plundered 254 runs in seven innings at a strike rate of 220.86, Jaiswal has minted 245 runs at 155.06 and with an average of 49.

Even though Dhruv Jurel has listed two ducks in his last three innings, the Rajasthan Royals team management will likely give the star wicketkeeper-batter an extended rope this season. Not long ago, Jurel launched a match-winning 43-ball 81* against the RCB in Guwahati.

Middle Order and All Rounders (Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Riyan Parag, Ravindra Jadeja, Donovan Ferreira)

Young South African wicketkeeper-batter Lhuan-dre Pretorius will likely make his return to the Rajasthan Royals playing XI vs SRH, in place of struggling Shimron Hetmyer. The hard-hitting West Indies middle-order batter has scored just 61 runs in five innings of IPL 2026 at an average of 15.25.

Captain Riyan Parag, another batter yet to light up this season, will continue to bat in the middle order for his side.

Legendary all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, fresh off his match-winning performance against the LSG, will likely bat at number six to oversee the slog overs.

Donovan Ferreira, with a career T20 strike rate of 165.79 and a season strike rate of 132.87, will be expected to join fellow countryman Pretorius, his captain Parag and senior teammate Jadeja to constitute the team’s middle order.

Bowlers (Jofra Archer, Ravi Bishnoi, Brijesh Sharma, Nandre Burger)

Fast bowler Jofra Archer and ace spinner Ravi Bishnoi have both taken 11 wickets each this IPL 2026 season to emerge as Royals joint-most successful bowlers. Bishnoi even held the coveted ‘Purple Cap’ for a major part earlier in the tournament.

In an otherwise high-scoring season, uncapped paceman Brijesh Sharma has been conceding runs at less than eight-an-over. The speedster has also scalped five wickets in four innings.

South African fast bowler Nandre Burger recently delivered a match-winning spell against the LSG to extend his IPL 2026 tally to eight wickets.

Rajasthan Royals Playing XI vs SRH- Match 36, IPL 2026

Yashasvi Jaiswal

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi

Dhruv Jurel

Lhuan-dre Pretorius

Riyan Parag

Ravindra Jadeja

Donovan Ferreira

Jofra Archer

Ravi Bishnoi

Brijesh Sharma

Nandre Burger

RR vs SRH Impact Player Options

RR Impact Subs: Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande, Ravi Singh, Yashraj Punja

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