Rajasthan Royals fly under the radar as the franchise assembles a plethora of superstars at reasonable price tags!

The inaugural champions of the Indian Premier League, Rajasthan Royals have had an above-average outing in the mega-auction 2020. In the last few years, they were over-reliant on their overseas players but this time around things have changed a touch. The likes of Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer are no longer a part of the franchise and they are on their way to a fresh start with a mix of youth and experience. Prior to the start of the mega auction, they decided to retain Sanju Samson their skipper for INR 14 crores, Jos Buttler the English wicketkeeper for INR 10 crores and the young uncapped Indian opener Yashasvi Jaiswal for INR 4 crores. After spending INR 28 crores in retaining three players they headed into the auction with a purse of INR 62 crores.

The major area of concern for them was the absence of Stokes and Archer as they were not available for the upcoming edition of the IPL. The English all-rounder had decided to take a break from the IPL and Archer the speedster was out of the upcoming edition due to injury. He did feature in the auction and Mumbai Indians got his signatures for the next three years but he will only be available from IPL 2023. The first task for the Royals was to assemble a core that could fill in for the void left by the English duo.

The Rajasthan-based franchise has managed to assemble a squad that can easily challenge for the title. They have covered all bases and would be delighted with how things have panned out for them. But things were not that easy as they were lacking behind others before the start of the accelerated auction.

Rajasthan Royals turn the tables with a super swoop in the accelerated auction round three

While the Royals had already done enough to ensure they had a decent Indian core under their belt even before the start of the last phase of the auction they were yet to balance out their overseas quota. 

A lot depends on how we look at this situation. It might be a smart move if they intentionally waited for the last round to rope in multiple foreign players for cheap or whether their mistakes in the earlier half had forced them to play it out the manner in which they did. Whatever the reason may have been, they have come out of the last phase in some fashion by signing 4 top overseas players for just INR 5.25 crores.

The first overseas star that RR got their hands on in the last accelerated session was Jimmy Neesham for his base price of INR 1.5 crores. They further added Nathan Coulter-Nile, Russie van der Dussen, and Daryl Mitchell for 2 crores, 1 crore and 75 lakhs respectively. All of them are capable enough to walk into their playing but with Jos Buttler, Hetmyer and Boult in their ranks only one of them will actually play. They have plenty of options to choose from which will indeed help them shape up one of the best playing XI in the upcoming edition at least on paper.

The dream spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal 

Ashwin might be past his prime but he still is one of the most economical bowlers in the Indian Premier League. The Indian veteran spinner might not be an out and out wicket-taker but his economy rate is something that puts pressure on the batters and the other bowlers end up reaping the rewards. 

Chahal on the other hand is a wicket-taking leg spinner who has proven himself in one of the smallest venues in the IPL, the Chinnaswamy. Both Ashwin and Chahal seem to be a pair that will complement each other in the best possible fashion. The fact that they are two completely different spinners makes it very beneficial for the Royals as they can easily feature in the playing XI irrespective of the venue.

The Royals defeated Delhi Capitals in their pursuit of Ashwin and managed to get his signatures for INR 5 crores. He was their first pick from the marquee set 1 for the inaugural champions. Yuzvendra Chahal was the other superstar spinner that they managed to bring into their squad. The Royals snatched the former Royal Challengers Bangalore spinner from under the jaws of Mumbai Indians for INR 6.50 crores.

So near yet so far, the story of Ben Stokes’s replacement at RR

Rajasthan Royals have done magnificently well in the auction, they have managed to replace Jofra Archer by signing Trent Boult for INR 8 crores. The New Zealand quick might be a completely different entity when we compare him to the English speedster but he has a skill set that will surely boost the Royals attack. RR have added the likes of Prasidh Krishna and Navdeep Saini who will complement Boult with their pace. Overall, the pace unit looks very lethal and they might not miss Archer.

The Rajasthan based franchise might have bought multiple all-rounders in Jimmy Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Riyan Parag, and Daryl Mitchell but it still seems like they haven’t found the right man to replace Ben Stokes. 

The Royals were very close to signing Jason Holder who could have somewhat managed to fill in the big boots of Stokes. But, they lost out to Lucknow Super Giants who surpassed the Royals penultimate bid of INR 8.5 crores. The decision to not push an extra yard for the signature of the all-rounder from Barbados is a move that the team management might ponder upon. 

The fact that they overpaid Riyan Parag (Signed for INR 3.80 crores) is something that most of the critics have been vehemently debating. The Indian uncapped all-rounder hasn’t yet proved himself in the IPL. The boy from Assam has already played a good number of matches and is yet to impress. Parag’s stats suggest that he has been well overpaid and the price that they have spent on him could have helped them get their hands on Holder.