IPL Auction 2019: Team-wise analysis of likely strategies and potential buys

Rajasthan Royals

Royals need to plan ahead for the early departure of their overseas stars

Retained: Ajinkya Rahane [c], Krishnappa Gowtham, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Gopal, Aryaman Birla, S. Midhun, Prashant Chopra, Stuart Binny, Rahul Tripathi, Ben Stokes*, Steve Smith*, Jos Buttler*, Jofra Archer*, Ish Sodhi*, Dhawal Kulkarni, Mahipal Lomror.

Released: D'Arcy Short, Ben Laughlin, Heinrich Klaasen, Dane Paterson, Zahir Khan, Dushmantha Chameera, Jaydev Unadkat, Anureet Singh, Ankit Sharma, Jatin Saxena.

Available Auction Purse: INR 20.95 crore

Available Slots: 9 (Indian 6; Overseas 3)

Auction Strategy:

The Royals have bear a settled look, having retained 16 players from their 2018 squad. Their pool of overseas players, in particular, is enviable but susceptible to selection in World Cup squads. So, their main objective at the auction will be to gain adequate cover for the time when Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and potentially even Jofra Archer become unavailable in the second half of the season.

Having released Jaydev Unadkat, one can expect them to go after Indian seamers apart from some backups in the batting department.

Potential Acquisitions: Shimron Hetmyer, Lendl Simmons, Sam Curran, Hazratullah Zazai, Manoj Tiwary, Hanuma Vihari, Mohit Sharma, Barinder Sran, Aniket Choudhary, Joe Denly, Luke Wright, JP Duminy, Hardus Viljoen, Daniel Christian.

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