IPL 2024 Auction: Five players Rajasthan Royals can target, remaining purse and more

Inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals had been fairly busy around the Indian Premier League (IPL) Retention Day. Not only did they release nine players from their squad including senior internationals Joe Root and Jason Holder, they have also been involved in a couple of trades — bringing in Avesh Khan from Lucknow Super Giants in exchange of top-order batter Yashasvi Jaiswal. The Royals had finished runners-up in the 2022 season, reaching the final for the first time since winning the first-ever IPL under Shane Warne’s leadership in 2008, and narrowly missed the playoffs this year. They’ll hope to make the right moves in the auction and build the kind of squad that will help them end their long wait for a second title. Ahead of this year’s player auction that takes place at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai on Tuesday, we take a look at the Royals’ possible strategy and the players that they are likely to target: Rajasthan Royals Auction Strategy: Looking at the players released or traded, there are two key areas of focus for the Royals. Holder releases, along with Padikkal joining Lucknow from Rajasthan mean Samson and Co are a little short on middle-order options and that will be one area they will be looking to fill. It’s worth noting that while Padikkal has batted at the top of the order for Kerala as well as for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, RR utilised him primarily as a middle-order batter. Additionally, Holder’s release means the Royals might be on the lookout for an overseas seam-bowling all-rounder in Tuesday’s mini auction. Harry Brook Brook certainly was among the more surprising releases on Retention Deadline Day, though his release did free up funds amounting to Rs 13.25 crore for the Sunrisers Hyderabad for the auction. Still, the Englishman is considered among the most promising newcomes in the sport and is expected to be a big deal, especially in the white-ball formats, down the road. What makes Brook a solid choice for the Royals is the fact that while he is versatile when it comes to his position — he has made most of his appearances for England in the middle-order but cracked a 55-ball ton for the Sunrisers against Kolkata Knight Riders as an opener earlier this year. Daryl Mitchell Mitchell was among the standout batters in New Zealand’s run to the semi-finals of the recently-concluded ICC World Cup. Even though he scored runs in a longer white-ball format, there’s no reason to believe the all-rounder’s 552 runs at a superb average of 69 will not be playing on the minds of the franchise owners two days from now. [caption id=“attachment_13513242” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Daryl Mitchell had previously represented Rajasthan Royals in a couple of matches in the 2022 Indian Premier League season. Sportzpics[/caption] Mitchell collected a couple of centuries during the mega event, both against hosts India. Should he return to the franchise that he represented in a couple of games in 2022, Mitchell — whose strike rate falls in the mid-130s in T20s, could be another contender for either the No 4 or 5 slots. Shahrukh Khan Like Sunrisers’ decision to release Brook, Punjab Kings leaving Shahrukh Khan out of their retained players list also ended up raising a few eyebrows. Especially since SRK had been developing not only as a potent middle-order option for the Shikhar Dhawan-led side, but was also turning out to be quite the finisher for them. Skills that might just come in handy for the Royals in the following season as they eye their first title in 14 years. Rovman Powell Among the 11 players released by the Delhi Capitals on Retention Day with the Rishabh Pant-led franchise looking for a near-overhaul of their squad in the auction, West Indies’ Rovman Powell could be something of an ideal replacement for Holder, and not just because they both hail from the Caribbean. Both are adept with bat as well as with ball — Holder the better bowler of the two but Powell a much more lethal option with the bat with  a T20I strike rate of 143.26. Powell had collected 250 runs at a strike rate of 149.70 in the 2022 season but made just three appearances this year. He’ll be hoping for a more prominent run with the Royals should he get picked in the auction. Chris Woakes England’s Woakes is another all-rounder that the Royals can go for in order to fill the void left behind by Holder — who had three solid seasons between 2020 and 2022 but hardly made an impact after joining RR in 2023. Woakes had a solid 2017 season, in which he collected 17 wickets for the Kolkata Knight Riders but hasn’t made much of an impact ever since, which he will be looking to change in 2024 should the franchise owners eventually bid for him. Rajasthan Royals retained players: Sanju Samson, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna, Navdeep Saini, Avesh Khan (Traded from LSG), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Kuldeep Sen, Sandeep Sharma, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Kunal Singh Rathore, Jos Buttler, Trent Boult, Adam Zampa, Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira. Rajasthan Royals released players: Murugan Ashwin. KC Cariappa, KM Asif, Akash Vashisht, Abdul Basith, Kuldip Yadav, Joe Root, Jason Holder, Obed McCoy. Rajasthan Royals remaining slots: 8 (3 overseas). Rajasthan Royals purse remaining: Rs 14.5 crore.