Royals did reasonably well.
Coming back after a two-year hiatus, Rajasthan Royals rebooted their strategy completely in IPL11. Where other teams got inspired from RR of the yore, picking newcomers, RR went for the big buys. After retaining Steve Smith in the auction, they used RTM option for Ajinkya Rahane on Day 1. They also snapped up Dhawal Kulkarni using RTM. But what made headline news on Day 2 was RR getting Jaydev Unadkat for a whopping Rs 11.5 crores. Another big buy is handy allrounder Gowtham who went for Rs 6.20 cr after an intense bidding war.
RR on day 1 also got Stokes for Rs 12.50 crore. So, two of the most expensive buys were done by a team once known for its prudent spending. It also paid big bucks to get BBL stars Jofra Archer and D'Arcy Short. Overall RR look like a pretty strong line-up.
The catch though is they can only play 4 foreigners. Assuming Smith and Stokes will be automatic choices, only 2 more foreigners will be allowed in the 11. That means a lot of onus will be on Indian batting talents. Rahane leads the way but he has the likes of Sanju Samson,
Rahul Tripathi and Ankit Sharma, Sreyas Gopal among others for company. The bowling will be led by Unadkat with the likes of Archer and Stokes also there in the mix.
Anureet Singh, Stuart Binny, Dhawal Kulkarni are also decent buys. Chameera and Zahira are good foreign buys but it is difficult for them to get games with melee of Aussies in the mix.
RR hasn't got any A-lister Indian spinner in their line-up. Gowtham will probably be the lead spinner, which speaks a lot for their team selection. Others picked are young Aryaman Birla (Slow left-arm) and S Midhun (Legbreak, Googly), veteran Jatin Saxena (Legbreak), Ankit Sharma (Slow-Left arm orthodox), Mahipal Lomror (slow-left arm orthodox). RR will hope anyone of them has a breakthrough session and help them in hiding the hole.
RR is certainly a bit pace-heavy, and their bowlers will be tested on flat pitches in IPL. However, Rajasthan certainly is not short of big impact players especially in batting department who can change the course of a game in matter of few overs. Auction clearly indicates there would be a very different RR in display this time. Steven Smith got RPS to final last time around. Can he do the same for RR. We will know in few months.
Strength: Presence of big impact players
Weakness: Lack of A-lister Indian batsmen except Rahane, absence of any top Indian spinner
Auction Rating: 7/10
Full team:
Benjamin Stokes All-Rounder
Jaydev Unadkat Bowler
Sanju Samson Wicket Keeper
Jofra Archer All-Rounder
Krishnappa Gowtham Bowler
Jos Buttler Wicket Keeper
Ajinkya Rahane Batsman (RTM)
Darcy Short All-Rounder
Rahul Tripathi Batsman
Dhawal Kulkarni Bowler (RTM)
Zahir Khan Pakteen Bowler
Ben Laughlin Bowler
Stuart Binny All-Rounder
Dushmantha Chameera Bowler
Anureet Singh Bowler
Aryaman Vikram Birla All-Rounder
Midhun S All-Rounder
Shreyas Gopal All-Rounder
Prashant Chopra Wicket Keeper
Jatin Saxena All-Rounder
Ankit Sharma All-Rounder
Mahipal Lomror All-Rounder
Steven Smith Batsman (R)
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