IPL 2018: Rajasthan Royals Full squad

The returning Rajasthan Royals had quite a time at the Indian Premier League IPL 2018 auction. Since they’re looking to build a team after a gap of two years they faced a different set of challenges and also had a wider radar of search. The franchise looks to have passed the test with flying colours as they have signed some key Indian as well as the overseas players into their camp.

Retentions and the purse size

Rajasthan stepped into the auction after retaining just one of their players from the 2015 setup who went on to play for RPS or GL. The current Australian skipper Steve Smith who is also a likely candidate to lead the team. Thus they started with a huge purse worth Rs 67.5 crore in the auction. They had three Right to Match cards in hand and used it only twice to retain Ajinkya Rahane (4 crores) and Dhawal Kulkarni (75 lakhs who were bought by some other team with a bid at the stated price.

Most recognizable buys

Being the star of the 2017 IPL auction English all-rounder Ben Stokes earned a bid worth Rs 14.5 crore from the Rising Pune Supergiants. He put up a value for money show and was the top performer for the franchise as an all-rounder. Looking at his incredible performances in the previous edition, Rajasthan went all guns blazing at the auction table and got Stokes for a whopping Rs 12.5 crores – once again the highest bid in the auction.

On day two they also bagged Indian left-arm paceman Jaydev Unadkat at a staggering price of Rs 11.50 crores. These two players also finished as the top two biggest bids in this year’s auction.

Batsmen: Rahul Tripathi, Ajinkya Rahane, Darcy Short

The Royals induced some of the best batsman from all the parts of the world, which includes likes of young talents like Darcy Short and Rahul Tripathi. To accompany the youth, they also have some experienced campaigner like Rahane and Smith into their composition.

All-rounders: Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes, Stuart Binny, Ankit Sharma, Jatin Saxena, Vikram Birla, Mahipal Lormor, Midhun S, Shreyas Gopal

RR have included a big number of all-rounder cricketers into their setup for the upcoming season. Some of the worth all-rounders of them happen to be Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Stuart Binny and many other exciting players in the category. They have kept the fact in consideration that the selected all-rounders provide the desired variety to an extent.

Wicket-keepers: Sanju Samson, Prashanth Chopra, Jos Buttler

They have included three major wicket-keepers in their tally at the 2018 auction. Rajasthan have procured the services of Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and Prashant Chopra out of the rest of the keepers lot. However, it still remains to be seen that who will take the gloves for the franchise as either of Buttler and Samson emerge to be the likely options.

Bowlers: Dhawal Kulkarni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Laughlin, Dushmantha Chameera, Zahir Khan, Anureet Singh

Royals have also fulfilled their bowling division with some of the best bowlers in the shorter version of the game. They picked out the likes of Kulkarni, Gowtham Krishnappa, Unadkat and many other specialist bowlers. Both the spin as well as the department have been take care by the franchise, while selecting the bowling department at the auction.

Here is a look at the entire squad along with their auctioned price