Last Updated on 1 month by Charbel Coorey
IPL 2021 Auction: 5 Players RR can target for IPL 2021 | What will the Rajasthan Royals squad look like for Indian Premier League season 2021?
The inaugural winners of the Indian Premier League, Rajasthan Royals, have failed to replicate their performance of the first edition. They have had some good players in their squad over the years but they have failed as a team. They’ll go into the auction with Kumar Sangakkara the Director of Cricket and after releasing their last year’s skipper Steve Smith. They have a great core of players and have a great chance to build a very strong team for the upcoming editions of the IPL.
Here are 5 players that we think they can target in the 2021 mini-auction:
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5. Umesh Yadav
Rajasthan has released quite a few pacers; domestic as well as overseas. They have only Jofra Archer, Karthik Tyagi, and Andrew Tye in their pace bowling department and Tye probably won’t start in the first 11. Umesh Yadav, in that case, can be a player they can look to pick. He can give good value with the new ball and they can use him as a powerplay bowler. Umesh was the highest wicket-taker in the powerplay in 2018-19 editions of the tournament with 18 wickets in 24 innings at an economy of 7.46.
He is experienced, has good pace, and can be a good domestic option for the Royals considering their need for the pacers.
4. Krishnappa Gowtham
Everyone was surprised when RR released Gowtham after the 2019 edition of the tournament, as he is a utility player with his off-spin bowling and his ability to tonk the ball lower down the order. Also, Rajasthan doesn’t have an off-spinner in their squad. Despite having players like Rahul Tewatia, Gowtham can be a good choice for Rajasthan.
He has a career strike of 169.09 in the IPL after 19 innings and 159.24 in T20s and he has 41 wickets in 62 games at an economy of 7.60 in T20s with the ball. With the all-round value that Gowtham brings to the table, we can see him back to his previous franchise in IPL 2021.
3. Lukman Meriwala
Rajasthan Royals are known to pick and nurture young uncapped players from India. Many of the current stars of the IPL started their journey in Rajasthan Royals. So, given their need for pace bowlers and their history of picking young players, Rajasthan Royals can go for Lukman Meriwala, the left-arm pacer from Baroda.
The 27-year-old speedster has some great numbers in the domestic arena. He has 72 wickets in 44 T20s at an economy of 6.72 and a strike-rate of 12.9. Also, he was the second-highest wicket-taker of the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) with 15 wickets in 5 games. Meriwala can be a great pick for the Royals for this season and the upcoming seasons as well.
2. Moeen Ali
Rajasthan has quite a few options for the top order and the lower middle order but they don’t have someone good and experienced to bat at the number 4 spot. Moeen Ali can be the perfect pick for them. He can bat at number 4, is a good player of spin bowling, and can also give 4 overs to the side with his off-spin bowling.
He has 3513 runs in 167 T20 games striking at 140.18 at an average of 24.73 and has 110 wickets at an economy of 7.68. Overall Moeen Ali can act as the link between the explosive top and middle-order of the Royals and he also brings the off-spin to their arsenal which they lack at the moment.
1. Mark Wood
The Rajasthan Royals have almost all base covered in the batting department. They have a mix of experienced players and youngsters to form the batting unit.
However, one area where they lack is a good overseas pacer to accompany Jofra Archer. Karthik Tyagi is young while Andrew Tye isn’t the same as he used to be. Mark Wood can be the last piece of the puzzle for them.
Wood is a pacy, hit-the-deck bowler who can trouble any batsman with his bowling. He can bowl with the new ball as well as in the death overs and him paired with Archer can be a lethal combination for the Royals.
The English pacer can boost the bowling attack of RR as we have already witnessed something like that from DC in IPL 2020 with Rabada and Nortje in their bowling line-up. Mark Wood has the potential to be a great pick for them in this auction.
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These were the 5 players Rajasthan Royals can pick in the auction. They already have a settled squad with quite a few promising youngsters and they’ll hope to do well this season.
Thanks for reading!
Written by Robin Rounder. Follow Robin on Twitter today.
