IPL 2018: 3 players Rajasthan Royals might release ahead of the auction

Rajasthan Royals have been one such team who has rode on emerging players and those cricketers have gone on to become immensely successful for their national teams. Prominent examples of them are Ravindra Jadeja and Shane Watson. Rajasthan Royals, captained by Shane Warne in the very first season in 2008 became the champions in a close battle with the Chennai Super Kings in the final.

Shane Watson was named as the Man of the Tournament for scoring 472 runs and taking 17 wickets. However, lately, Rajasthan have also grown slightly inconsistent. They have made to the playoffs in a few occasions but, a performance big enough to romp them to another coveted title is still awaiting. The 2018 season was a topsy-turvy season for them initially.

Ajinkya Rahane was appointed as the captain after Steve Smith was banned from competitive cricket following the ball-tampering episode. Jos Buttler’s promotion to the opening position and his five fifty-plus scores consecutively dragged them along to the playoffs. Rajasthan Royals have got some unfinished business and ahead of the next season, they might release the following players:-

Dushmantha Chameera

The Sri Lankan fast bowler was bought for INR 50 lakhs in the last season, however, he was ruled out of the entire tournament due to a back injury.  Chameera bowls right arm fast and is capable of clocking speeds up to 145 kmph. Chameera made his ODI debut against New Zealand in 2015 and took the wicket of Ross Taylor and Grant Elliot. He is one of the quickest bowlers to play for Sri Lanka in recent times.

However, his past T20 record not being a stellar one doesn’t make a strong case anyway to retain him. His injury-prone nature makes him even more likely to pull a muscle and be sidelined at any time. The presence of Ben Stokes, Ben Laughlin, and Jofra Archer indemnified Chameera’s absence easily but Rajasthan could have a much larger spectrum of fast bowlers to pick from the auction.