Rajasthan Royals’ latest recruit Ravindra Jadeja has opened up on what his role will be in the new franchise after moving from CSK ahead of IPL 2026. The southpaw, who made his IPL debut with the franchise, returns to the side after 17 long years. Jadeja was traded along with Sam Curran from five-time champions CSK to RR for Sanju Samson.

Jadeja ready to embrace senior role in RR

Speaking at the jersey launch event of RR ahead of IPL 2026, Jadeja acknowledged that as a senior player in the side, he will give his best in terms of offering opinions and suggestions for the betterment of the team. The former CSK all-rounder admitted that he was not going to play with youngsters, but was going to take the field with ‘ultra youngsters’. Jadeja will be playing alongside the likes of Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal among other youngsters in the RR side in IPL 2026.

“I will give my opinions and suggestions to the team. Whatever is for the betterment of the team, I’m ready to do it. As a senior player, you always have to take that extra responsibility for the team. Whatever you contribute to the team is the best, and whatever you are doing is always the best. So yeah, I won’t say I’m playing with young players, I’m playing with ultra young players. So as a senior player, it’s going to be quite exciting, i get to know lot of young and new players. I’m also playing after 17 years for the Royals. For me also, it is going to be a learning experience going forward,” Jadeja said.

After spending 14 seasons with CSK, the veteran all-rounder will now play for a new team and his league fee has been revised from Rs 18 crore to Rs 14 crore for IPL 2026.