The next team on the list is the IPL 2022 runners-up Rajasthan Royals. They had one of their best IPL seasons ever and under the leadership of Sanju Samson, the team did wonders by reaching the IPL final only for the 2nd time in their history. Now going ahead into the mini-auctions on Dec 23 at Kochi, RR has made several changes to their personnel.
What happened?
While they have retained most of their 1st choice players from the last year, RR has let go of all-rounders like James Neesham and Daryl Mitchell from the squad, who represented the team seldomly last season. Also, released are the injury-prone pacer Nathan Coulter-Nile and Rassie Van der Dussen. All these 4 overseas stars didn’t contribute much last season and it is not surprising to see their release.
Retained Players – Rajasthan Royals
Sanju Samson (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Jos Buttler, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Prasidh Krishna, Trent Boult, Obed McCoy, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, KC Cariappa
Released Players – Rajasthan Royals
Anunay Singh, Corbin Bosch, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Karun Nair, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, Shubham Garhwal, Tejas Baroka
Who will they target in the upcoming Auction?
Purse remaining going into the auctions INR 13.2 crores
Players got through trade from other teams: 0
Overseas slots remaining to be filled: 4
The Royals would look to buy an all-rounder or 2 to fill the overseas player’s slot along with a quality spinner to support the Indian duo of Chahal and Ashwin. They would also need a solid backup option to Buttler who was the most valuable player of the season for the team in 2022. The rest of the team will largely be the ones who are already by the men from Jaipur.
