IPL Auction 2020: Team-wise analysis of likely strategies and potential acquisitions

Rajasthan Royals

The Royals need reinforcements to their Indian contingent

Retained: Steve Smith* [c], Sanju Samson, Jofra Archer*, Ben Stokes*, Jos Buttler*, Riyan Parag, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Mahipal Lomror, Varun Aaron, Manan Vohra

Traded In: Mayank Markande (from DC), Rahul Tewatia (from DC), Ankit Rajpoot (from KXIP)

Released: Ashton Turner, Oshane Thomas, Shubham Ranjane, Prashant Chopra, Ish Sodhi, Aryaman Birla, Jaydev Unadkat, Rahul Tripathi, Stuart Binny, Liam Livingstone and Sudheshan Midhun

Traded Out: Ajinkya Rahane (to DC), Krishnappa Gowtham (to KXIP)

Available Auction Purse: INR 28.90 crore

Available Slots: 11 (Indian 7, Overseas 4)

Auction Strategy

The Rajasthan Royals possess an enviable mix of match-winners in their overseas stars. However, they need to enhance their Indian resources following the departure of Ajinkya Rahane, Jaydev Unadkat and Krishnappa Gowtham.

They would look for an experienced Indian batsman apart from a quality Indian seamer. RR also need some reliable backups for their overseas players, preferably in the value-for-money domain.

Potential Acquisitions: Lendl Simmons, Shimron Hetmyer, Tom Banton, Laurie Evans, James Neesham, Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Hanuma Vihari, Deepak Hooda, Chris Jordan, Sam Curran, Mohit Sharma, Lukman Meriwala, Virat Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Chris Morris