IPL 2024 Auction, Rajasthan Royals Strategy: Which Players Will Sanju Samson And Co. Go For?

Rajasthan Royals (RR), after reaching the Indian Premier League (IPL) final in 2022, faced a setback in the 2023 season, finishing fifth on the points table and consequently missing out on the playoffs.

Despite this outcome, the 2008 champions have shown confidence in their existing squad by retaining 17 players. Many of these players were part of the squad that secured the runners-up position in 2022. Given the valuable experience in the squad, RR will avoid the pain of a substantial rebuilding effort, unlike most other teams in the league. The side led by Sanju Samson will have to focus on getting the balance of the squad right if they have to compete for the title this season.

Ahead of the IPL 2024 auction, to be held on December 19 in Dubai, RR opted to release players who failed to have a significant impact in the previous season. The list comprises former England captain Joe Root, West Indies all-rounder Jason Holder and Windies pacer Obed McCoy. Additionally, the released Indian players are KC Cariappa, Murugan Ashwin, Abdul Basith, Akash Vashisht, KM Asif and Kuldeep Yadav.

The Royals traded batter Devdutt Padikkal for pacer Avesh Khan from Lucknow Super Giants (LSG). This move appeared to have strengthened RR's bowling attack.

RR's retained players list for IPL 2024:

Sanju Samson (c & wk),

Jos Buttler

Shimron Hetmyer

Yashasvi Jaiswal

Dhruv Jurel

Riyan Parag

Donovan Ferreira

Kunal Rathore

Ravichandran Ashwin

Kuldeep Sen

Navdeep Saini

Prasidh Krishna

Sandeep Sharma

Trent Boult

Yuzvendra Chahal

Adam Zampa

Avesh Khan (traded from LSG)

Following the release and retention of the players, RR now have a remaining purse of Rs 14.5 crore to bolster their squad when the franchises convene in Dubai on December 19. This