IPL Auction 2022, RR analysis: High on batting firepower, Rajasthan Royals pack quite a punch – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

After an awesome day one at the auction, Rajasthan Royals’ IPL 2022 mega auction had an anti-climax when they had to pick up four overseas players in the last five minutes of the auction.

“Breaking a record with four players in four minutes always fun too,” noted Jake Lush McCrum, the CEO of the franchise. But it wasn’t quite that much fun while the proceedings happened with Rajasthan clearly unable to fill the hole of a lower-order hard-hitting all-rounder. They went after Jason Holder on day one and Odean Smith and Romario Shepherd on day two, but couldn’t get hold of any of them.

Towards the fag end, they added three all-rounders – James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile and Daryl Mitchell – but none of them along the elite group of all-rounders they could have had had they pressed harder. Coulter-Nile, a last-minute panic buy with the player pool exhausting, will now likely be a certain starter if RR are to balance the squad.

All’s not that bad though thanks to a good day one where they built the core of their batting line-up by adding some ridiculous firepower to the existing retentions Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler. Devdutt Padikkal and Shimron Hetmyer gave them a superb batting order with the late addition of Rassie van der Dussen giving them further options.

In the bowling department, they sealed the top Indian quick and spinner early with Yuzvendra Chahal, an absolute steal at INR 6.5 crores, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Prasidh Krishna coming in. Trent Boult’s addition bolstered their pace attack with a bowler who could bowl in the powerplay and death overs. Obed McCoy, the West Indies quick, is a smart, underrated death bowler who could come in handy too.

Rajasthan Royals squad:

File image of the Rajasthan Royals. Image: Sportzpics for IPL

Batters: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer (o), Shubham Garhwal, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Rassie van der Dussen (o)

Wicketkeepers: Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler (o),

Spinners: Yuzvendra Chahal, KC Cariappa, Tejas Baroka

Fast bowlers: Trent Boult (o), Prasidh Krishna, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy (o), Kuldeep Sen, Kuldip Yadav

Spin-bowling all-rounders: Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin

Fast-bowling all-rounders: Anunay Singh, James Neesham (o), Nathan Coulter-Nile (o), Daryl Mitchell (o)

Strong area

The batting in unquestionably Rajasthan’s strength. With a top five of Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson and Shimron Hetmyer, Rajasthan are capable of maximising their returns with the bat. With an in-form international batter in Rassie van der Dussen as backup, the batting group is stocked. Riyan Parag adds to the x-factor with his big-hitting abilities while James Neesham is another hitter capable of playing the batting all-rounder’s role.

Although Rajasthan have had a fairly strong batting line-up in the past too, this time they have managed to back up their first-choice batting group and also have multiple players capable of taking down both pace and spin. Their batting ticks most boxes and Rajasthan will be banking on this strength as they approach IPL 2022.

Area of concern

Like last year, Rajasthan Royals have a problem balancing the side with none of their all-round options quite fitting the bill. While Coulter-Nile and Ashwin are bowling all-rounders, Neesham and Mitchell are batsmen who can bowl. Unless they opt to go with Buttler in the middle-order, the line-up is also heavily dependent on Parag for the finishing job.

The batting group, again like previous years, is filled with top-order batters who aren’t quite experienced in handling the middle-order job. Shimron Hetmyer will have a lot riding on him if he is used in the role Delhi Capitals employed him in last year.

Best buy: Yuzvendra Chahal for 6.5 crores

Worst buy: Daryl Mitchell for 75 lakhs

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