Champions of the inaugural season around the Indian Premier League (IPL) Retention Day, the Rajasthan Royals have been quite active. They also engaged in a few trades, acquiring Avesh Khan from Lucknow Super Giants in return for top-order batsman Yashasvi Jaiswal. They released nine players from their team, including senior internationals Joe Root and Jason Holder.
The Royals, who only just missed the playoffs this year, finished second in the 2022 season and advanced to the championship game for the first time since Shane Warne’s team won the inaugural IPL in 2008. Their goal is to construct a team that can help them finally win a second title by making the proper decisions during the auction.
Players RR will target:
1. Harry Brook
Brook’s release on Retention Deadline Day was undoubtedly one of the more unexpected ones, but it did allow the Sunrisers Hyderabad to raise Rs 13.25 crore for the auction. It is anticipated that the Englishman, who is regarded as one of the sport’s most promising newcomers, will make a significant impact in the future, particularly in the white-ball categories.
While he has spent the majority of his time playing in the middle order for England, Brook is a flexible player who can open games for the Sunrisers against the Kolkata Knight Riders. This is what makes Brook a good fit for the Royals.
2. Rovman Powell
West Indies’ Rovman Powell could be a good replacement for Holder among the 11 players released by the Delhi Capitals on Retention Day. This isn’t just because they are both from the Caribbean; Powell is one of the players that the Rishabh Pant-led team hopes to replace almost entirely in the auction.
Holder is the superior bowler between the two, but Powell is a far more potent option with the bat, having a T20I strike rate of 143.26. Both are skilled with the bat and the ball. Powell played in just three games this year, despite amassing 250 runs at a strike rate of 149.70 in the 2022 campaign. If he is selected in the auction, he will be hoping for a more prominent run with the Royals.
3. Chris Woakes
The Royals can also target England’s Woakes, an all-rounder who had three good seasons between 2020 and 2022 but barely made an impression when joining RR in 2023, to replace Holder. Although Woakes had a strong 2017 season for the Kolkata Knight Riders, taking 17 wickets, he hasn’t had much of an effect since. If the team owners decide to make an offer for him in 2024, he will be eager to remedy that.
