IPL Auction 2021: Five Players Rajasthan Royals Should Buy At the Auction

Rajasthan Royals (RR) made the big and bold decision of not retaining the great Steven Smith releasing him before the auctions. Among other prominent players released by them were Tom Curran and Oshane Thomas. RR have always punched above their weight but after starting IPL 2020 with a bang they fizzled out and did not have a great tournament. While RR have a strong base of overseas players, mainly from England - Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler and Jofra Archer, the Sanju-Samson led side need to build on their Indian contingent and that is where their focus should be in the auctions.

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We look at 5 players RR should bid for in the upcoming auctions.

1. Dawid Malan

RR need a playmaker to replace Steven Smith in the middle order and T20 specialist Dawid Malan could be their answer. Malan is a seasoned professional and a veteran of 223 T20 matches. He has an outstanding record in T20I cricket with 855 runs in 19 matches at an average of 53.43 and strike rate of 149.47 including one hundred and 9 fifties. Malan can play both roles - drop anchor and build an innings or go helter-skelter and take apart any opposition attack on his day.

2. Adam Milne

Adam Milne, in the Rs 30-75 Lakh price bracket, would be an economical and good buy for RR to replace Oshane Thomas. The New Zealander has the experience of playing in 108 T20 matches in which he has picked 121 wickets at a very impressive economy rate of 7.64. Milne also has the raw pace to trouble opposition batsmen.

3. Thisara Perera

The Sri Lankan bowling all-rounder would be a good purchase for RR and an ideal fit for Tom Curran. Perera has played 287 T20 matches and has returned with 243 wickets. He is also a very dangerous lower-order batsman and has a batting strike rate of 150.3 in all T20 cricket.

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4. Mohit Sharma

Mohit Sharma will be a good replacement for Varun Aaron for the Royals. Sharma has picked 113 wickets in 118 T20 matches at an economy rate of 8.38. He had a fine stint with Chennai Super Kings in the IPL. Sharma has also represented India in 26 ODIs and 8 T20I matches. He has a good variety of slower deliveries and is accurate maintaining a tight line and length.

5. Hanuma Vihari

Hanuma Vihai could be an interesting buy for RR and a good fit in the middle order for them. Labelled as a Test specialist, Vihari can provide stability in a line-up prone to collapse and with batsmen like Samson, Uthappa and Stokes playing around him. He can be the pivot in the middle order for RR rescuing them from tough and tricky situations.

Players retained: Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Robin Uthappa.

Player Released: Steve Smith, Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Akash Singh, Varun Aaron, Tom Curran, Anirudha Joshi, Shashank Singh.

Budget Remaining: Rs. 34.85 Crore

Remaining slots

Overall: 8, Overseas: 3

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• Adam Milne
• Dawid Malan
• Hanuma Vihari
• IPL 2021
• ipl 2021 auctions
• IPL auctions
• Mohit Sharma
• Thisara Perera