NEW DELHI: Ahead of this weekend’s 2018
IPL player auction in Bengaluru, at which 578 players will go under the hammer for 182 open slots for the league’s 11th season, here’s a look at how Rajasthan Royals, who are returning to the IPL after a two-year suspension, are stacked up and what kind of players they may want to acquire.
Money to spend: Rs 67.5 crore
RTM cards: 3
ALSO READ: What the franchises look likeWho they have:
Batsman: Steven Smith
What they need: Openers, middle-order options, a wicketkeeper, fast bowlers, allrounders and spinners. In short, a full team given they only retained Smith. With the joint biggest purse, Royals have a good platform from where they can build from scratch with an eye on the next few seasons. Traditionally, the owners have backed low-key talents over international superstars, and it will be interesting to see if that approach continues now that just Smith has been retained.
ALSO READ: How defending champions Mumbai Indians may spendFaith or the future? Shane Watson, the franchise’s most successful batsman and bowler with 2474 runs and 67 wickets, has not been retained. Neither was Ajinkya Rahane (2335 runs). Retired from international cricket, Watson sits at third place on the ongoing Big Bash League batting charts with 309 at a strike-rate of 139.18. Royals may be tempted to think about him, but at 36 the burly allrounder could be past his IPL sell-by date. Rahane is a safer bet to return.
The other key figures in Rajasthan’s fortunes after Watson and Smith were the allrounder James Faulkner and legspinner Pravin Tambe. Faulkner’s recent BBL form has been decent, but with a base price of Rs 2 crore the Australian is unlikely to find big interest from Rajasthan. Tambe burst into the collective conscience at the age of 41 with Rajasthan a few seasons ago, and has a good record for them, but is now 46.
A likelier situation is that the franchise opts for younger, more exciting players as they look at the horizon. Wicketkeeper-batsmen options like Jos Buttler, Sam Billings, Niroshan Dickwella and Glenn Phillips, openers such as Evin Lewis and Jason Roy and uncapped Indians in Mayank Agarwal, Rahul Tripathi, Kedar Devdhar, Dhruv Shorey, Shubman Gill, Himanshu Rana, Ishan Kishan and Deepak Hooda.
Aussie, Aussie, Aussie? With Smith in charge, you except an Australian touch to the franchise. The ongoing Big Bash League’s two big-impact batsmen, D’Arcy Short and Alex Carey, should attract interest from a team looking to invest for a long haul. Short is the league’s leading run-getter with 504 from nine games, and Carey second with 400. Each has a BBL century. Each can open the innings. Carey is a wicketkeeper. Keep an eye on the Royals’ table when their names come up.
Andrew Tye is the leading wicket-taker in the BBL this season with 16 in six games, and you can expect him to find takers from inside the Rajasthan camp. Same for Ben Laughlin, whose base price of Rs 50 lakh would make him a good purchase. Quicker bowlers are a must, and leading candidates are Nathan Coulter-Nile, Pat Cummins and Billy Stanlake.
Spin it to win it? Last season while captaining Rising Pune Supergiants to the IPL final, Smith spoke of the impact that Tamil Nadu allrounder Washington Sundar had on the franchise. Sundar, 18, has a hefty base price of Rs 1.5 crore but given his IPL success, elevation to India ODI and T20I teams and recent T20 performances - on Monday, he took 2/32 and scored 33 while opening in TN’s five-wicket win over UP - he could be the allrounder that Rajasthan bid hard for, with Smith’s backing.
Smith’s faith in legspin could see the franchise bid for Australian leggie Adam Tampa and Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan, who was excellent in 2017 at the international and IPL level, and who is in good form in the BBL. Nathan Lyon, Smith’s go-to spinner in Test cricket, has also picked up handy wickets in the BBL and could be an outside chance.
Local flavourRajasthan have some good state players to choose from, and should given the need to re-establish a fan base in Jaipur. Top of this list should be pace bowler Deepak Chahar, who in his most recent T20 match grabbed 5/15 as Rajasthan beat Karnataka in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Chahar’s domestic team-mates Khalil Ahmed and Ankit Lamba are in T20 form, and the captain Mahipal Lomror could also add some flair to the squad. Lamba, an opener, has four fifties (three unbeaten) and a score of 45 in seven Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy games this month, and 20-year-old left-arm pacer Ahmed 10 wickets at an economy rate of 6.77.
Possible targets: D’Arcy Short (base price Rs 20 lakh), Alex Carey (base price Rs 30 lakh), Ajinkya Rahane (base price Rs 2 crore), Rashid Khan (base price Rs 2 crore), Sam Billings (base price Rs 1 crore), Jason Roy (base price Rs 1.5 crore), Andrew Tye (base price Rs 1 crore), Nathan Coulter-Nile (base price Rs 1.5 crore), Pat Cummins (base price Rs 2 crore), Adam Zampa (base price Rs 1 crore), Nathan Lyon (base price Rs 1.5 crore), Ben Laughlin (base price Rs 50 lakh), Washington Sundar (base price Rs 1.5 crore), Deepak Chahar (base price Rs 20 lakh), Ankit Lamba (base price Rs 20 lakh), Mahipal Lomror (base price Rs 20 lakh), Deepak Hooda (base price 40 lakh), Ishan Kishan (base price 40 lakh), Rahul Tripathi (base price Rs 20 lakh), Shubman Gill (base price Rs 20 lakh), Mayank Agarwal (base price Rs 20 lakh), Himanshu Rana (base price Rs 20 lakh), Kedar Devdhar (base price Rs 20 lakh), Dhruv Shorey (base price Rs 20 lakh), Billy Stanlake (base price Rs 50 lakh).