In the IPL 2022, the Rajasthan Royals reached the final for the first time since the inaugural season back in 2008. Sanju Samson’s side, however, lost the IPL 2022 final to the rampant, dominating Gujarat Titans, and failed to clinch their second IPL title.
Ahead of the IPL 2023 auction, the Royals released a total of 9 players. But none of them played in more than 3 matches. Hence, RR have retained all of their first-choice XI players, and will look to bolster their squad in the upcoming IPL 2023 mini-auction.
There were rumors of RR releasing Devdutt Padikkal, the left-handed Karnataka opener who batted in the middle-order for RR last season as the opening spot was secured by Jaiswal and Buttler, but RR has kept the young left-hander.
Players released by Rajasthan Royals (RR): Daryl Mitchell, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, James Neesham, Corbin Bosch, Karun Nair, Anunay Singh, Shubham Garhwal, Tejas Baroka
Here is Rajasthan Royals (RR) Best XI from retained players:
Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c&wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Obed McCoy, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal
The Royals had both the Orange Cap holder – Jos Buttler, who smashed 4 centuries in his best-ever IPL season where he scored 863 runs – and the Purple Cap holder, Yuzvendra Chahal, the leg-spinner snapped up 27 wickets in the tournament.
Captain Sanju Samson finished with 458 runs, scored at a strike rate of 146, Padikkal scored 376 runs, and Shimron Hetmyer scored 314 runs at a strike rate of 153.
The Rajasthan Royals had 5 bowlers who took more than 10 wickets in the IPL 2022: Chahal (27), Boult (16), Prasidh Krishna (19), Ashwin (12) and Obed McCoy (11).
RR’s XI from the retained players is, in fact, the same XI that played in the final vs GT. So the Royals’ management need to go and hunt down backups for these players in the auction.
They have retained the Indian bowling contingent of Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, and Kuldip Yadav. Having released a number of overseas players, RR will look to replace them.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) retained players: Sanju Samson (c), R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Jos Buttler, KC Cariappa, Yuzvendra Chahal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy, Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav
