The West Indies power-hitter has featured in four IPL seasons, each for a different franchise.
Brute power at the back end, and some overs to assist the captain – which franchise would not want a player like Romario Shepherd? The Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 auction race is heating up. The franchises, including the champions RCB, would be caught up on their Excel sheets with a list of players to be retained and released ahead of the next season.
Having said that, a player like Romario Shepherd comes with a pinch of salt. The West Indian is known for his hard-hitting prowess towards the latter half of the innings. But there is a flip side to the power-hitting prowess. It does not work every single time.
Shepherd represented the IPL 2025 champions in the last season and featured in eight matches. In those games, he was able to score just 70 runs. The highlight of his tenure with the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) was his 14-ball 53* against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The West Indies player also holds the record for the second-fastest fifty in the league, which came in the same match.
But this means that Shepherd was able to notch up just 17 runs in the remaining seven innings, which wasn’t close to the team’s expectations. And as a result, RCB are expected to release him in the upcoming auction. In that case, here are three teams which would be interested in investing in the 30-year-old all-rounder.
Romario Shepherd can be a good fit in a franchise like the Gujarat Titans, who have stacked up some hard-hitters in their ranks. Currently, Shahrukh Khan and Sherfane Rutherford are the two hard-hitters the franchise relies on. However, Shepherd can be a good option for the franchise to replace Rutherford in the playing XI.
Though Rutherford has delivered some impactful performances in the recent past, the holder of the second-fastest fifty in the IPL has a bit more to his game than just the batting exploits. Shepherd can deliver results with the ball too.
To add to that, there is a stark difference in the strike rate of the two players. Rutherford has struck at 137.37 in the IPL. In comparison, Shepherd strikes at more than 210, which is massive in the context of the game.
Another team which will look to have the West Indian power hitter amongst their ranks would be the Delhi Capitals. If we look at the power hitters in the DC setup, there isn’t much strength in the latter half of the batting order. That is what Axar Patel & Co. will look to fix as they make plans for the IPL 2026 auction.
Tristan Stubbs and Ashutosh Sharma take most of the load in terms of playing the death overs, with Vipraj Nigam chipping in on occasions. Their opening match in the last season gave Ashutosh a lot of confidence, as he took the team to victory with a 31-ball 66.
With Romario Shepherd in the mix, the Capitals would have a definite strategy of some brute power to depend on. To add to that, batters in the top order can play a lot more freely. He will also give a bowling option to look at in times of need.
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The Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) have a blockbuster opening pair in Mitchell Marsh and Aiden Markram. However, they sometimes lack firepower at the death. With the likes of Nicholas Pooran and Rishabh Pant slated to come in at Nos.3 and 4, the top four are capable of taking the team to competitive totals.
However, in the case of wickets falling in a cluster, the team does not have any support at the bottom. Though Romario Shepherd is not exactly the kind of player who can stick around for a long time, he can surely take the attack to the opposition for a counter-attack.
Moreover, the team has been using Ayush Badoni as the sixth bowler for the last season. With Shepherd in the mix, skipper Pant can have the option of another medium pacer in the ranks.
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