IPL Auction Strategy for RR, 5 Players Rajasthan Royals can Target

IPL Auction 2021 Strategy : From winning the maiden IPL trophy in 2008 to releasing their skipper Steve Smith ahead of the IPL 2021 Auction, Rajasthan Royals have a history of surprising cricket pundits and fans. One more thing they do consistently is backing the young talent and honing it. In fact, RR’s image in IPL is less of a franchise but is more of a finishing school that picks raw yet sharp talent, exposes it to competitive cricket, and transforms it into match-ready players for the national team. From Yusuf Pathan to Ajinkya Rahane and now to Sanju Samson, the franchise has created several superstars.

So, come the IPL 2021 auction, and fans will be eager to see which youngster RR picks this time. At the same time, they have made a big statement by relating S Smith. So it will be interesting to see their strategy this time. Here we look at the five players RR will target in the IPL auctions 2021.

1. Jhye Richardson

Jofra Archer was incredible in 2020 and he promises to do the same this year too. But the lack of support from the other end means opposite teams can see him off and negate his threat.

RR’s biggest challenge in this auction will be to find an ally for Archer and this is where Jhye Richardson comes into the picture. The Aussie pacer bowls quick has good control and can be effective during all parts of the game.

Most importantly, he is in terrific form as he was the leading wicket-taker in Big Bash League. He picked 29 wickets in 17 games. His strike-rate of 12.7 was impressive and so was his economy rate of 7.69. He has 78 wickets in 62 T20s.

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2. Umesh Yadav

Umesh Yadav’s death overs bowling is erratic. However he is an effective new-ball bowler and this specific skill makes him a good choice for RR. If Umesh can bowl three overs with the new ball, the RR has the liberty to utilize Archer in the later stages of the game when they need him the most. Also Umesh can help Kartik Tyagi to manage his overs effectively.

Yadav has 119 wickets in 121 IPL games. His best IPL performance came in 2018 when he picked 20 wickets in 14 games at a strike-rate of 15.95. And in that season RCB had mostly used him as a new-ball bowler.

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3. Shivam Dube

Rahul Tewatia won RR a few games in the last season with his finishing skills. However RR will benefit by having another big-hitting batsman in the lower order. It will give more freedom to the likes of Tewatia and will also ease the pressure on the top-order. And Shivam Dubey is the best choice for the franchise.

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Dubey’s talent is evident and how it needs probably is some advice on how to channelize his talent correctly so that he becomes a genuine all-rounder. And  RR’s management could be the Midas touch for Dubey.

He has 169 runs in 15 IPL games at a strike-rate of 122.46 and has also chipped in with 4 wickets.

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4. G Maxwell

With Buttler, Stokes and Samson in the top-order and the likes of Tewatia and Archer to bat in the lower order, Rajasthan afford the risk of playing Glenn Maxwell in the middle-order.

The right-hand batsman had a horrific season in 2020 but his form in the recent Australia vs India series showed he is still a match-winner. His numbers in the Big Bash were erratic but even then Maxwell is a force to reckon with in white-ball cricket.

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He averages a whopping 154.67 in 82 IPL games and has six fifties to his name. With the kind of strong batting RR have, they can certainly utilize Maxwell by unleashing him in the later-half of the innings.

5. Chris Morris:

A gun death-over bowler and a more than handy batsman, Chris Morris could bring the perfect balance to RR’s team. His death bowling skills would allow RR to use Archer flexibly and Morris’ batting skills could help the top-order bat more freely.

Morris has an effective strike-rate of 157.87 in 70 IPL games and averages an impressive 23.95. He has 80 wickets in 70 games with a strike-rate of 18.42.

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