Rajasthan Royals had a good 2022-24 cycle but the mega auction has brought new challenges. We take a look at factors that could decide their fate in IPL 2025.
Under the inspiring leadership of Sanju Samson, Rajasthan Royals had built a very formidable squad for the previous auction cycle (2022-24). However, the mega auction came at the worst possible time for them and like others, they have had to revamp their roster.
Before we move further, a brief look at the Rajasthan Royals history shows the previous cycle was perhaps their best three-year period in the Indian Premier League. They came mighty close to clinching their second IPL title in 2022 but lost to Gujarat Titans in the final. The next year, they missed out on the top four spot by just two points. In IPL 2024, they defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Eliminator but went down against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2.
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Ahead of the mega auction, the Royals needed to take some hard calls on which players to retain to form the core for this next phase. They eventually retained captain Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer and Sandeep Sharma.
Rajasthan Royals’ performance at the auction table was not great at all. They signed only five more overseas players in addition to Hetmyer and that is just not an optimum use of the squad limit. But they did manage to acquire some quality players.
The England white-ball superstar Jos Buttler and Rajasthan Royals shared a great partnership from 2018 but it had to end as the franchise chose to lock in future Indian stars. A perfectly reasonable decision but not getting his replacement in the auction was a big failure on their part.
Buttler was arguably the best opener in the IPL in this seven-year period, amassing 2731 runs at an average of 44.04 while striking at 149.23. In the top 15 most prolific opening batters, only KL Rahul has a better average (50.10), who strikes at 136. Only Yashasvi Jaiswal has a better strike rate (150.60) but averages 32.14.
The English captain formed a successful partnership with young southpaw Jaiswal in the last three years. Him being one of the best hitters of pace bowling, was a perfect foil to Jaiswal who has a hard-length issue.
With Buttler gone, RR have to find a new combination at the top. Samson has been excellent in his number three role and changing that wouldn’t be wise. Rana and Dubey are both left-handers and it’s not ideal to have two LHBs at the top.
Which makes Jurel their best bet to take the mantle. The 23-year old batter has played 28 games for RR across two seasons. Batting in the lower middle order, he has struck at 151 with two half centuries. Jurel has also shown great temperament in four Tests he has played for India.
The England fast bowler Jofra Archer was amongst the very best during the 2018-2020 period. He played a monumental role for England in lifting the 2019 ODI World Cup and starred in the Ashes. In 2020, he was the most valuable player in the IPL, picking up 20 wickets at 6.56 rpo and scoring 112 runs at 177.8 strike rate.
Since 2021, however, Archer has barely been on the field as he had to battle with multiple injuries, mainly regarding the elbow. He made a few returns in this period but they were frustratingly short-lived with injuries resurfacing. He is back to full fitness and has been picked for the upcoming tour of India and the Champions Trophy.
The entire world of cricket, more so England and Rajasthan Royals will be hoping that this return will yield a better outcome.
Following his stint with the Indian men’s cricket team, Rahul Dravid returned to the RR franchise as Head coach. It was no surprise that their auction had his imprint on it with more trust in homegrown Indian talent than overseas superstars. Having said that, going into the season with only one overseas batting option seems far-fetched and could backfire big time.
Apart from the retained quartet of Samson, Jaiswal, Parag and Jurel, the Royals have signed Nitish Rana, Shubham Dubey, Kunal Singh Rathore and 13-year old prodigy Vaibhav Suryavanshi.
Among those four, Rana and Dubey are likely to get consistent opportunities in the upcoming season. A top 7 comprising mainly Indian batters, a few of those not being bonafide stars, could well go wrong.
