Rajasthan Royals at IPL Player Auction 2015: Royals continue to remain wise

Rajasthan Royals (RR) were not among the big buyers in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2015 auction as they roped in a couple of low-key players in their squad. Devarchit Varma analyses Rajasthan Royals’ latest additions ahead of IPL 2015. READ: Rajasthan Royals at IPL 2015 Auction

Away from the hoo-ha that surrounds the IPL and its teams, RR are one team that does not have an image of too many big names — cricketers or celebrities — associated with them. Apart from the squads which they had in the initial years of IPL, RR have always remained a low-key side with exciting talent. The addition of Rahul Dravid a few years strengthened Rajasthan Royals’ image of being a simple side.

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RR did not make many chances in their squad in IPL 2014 auction; they were expected to follow the ideologies in IPL 2015 as well. If one looks into the players they purchased for the season, it looks as if the RR participated in the auction only for the sake of it. It has a logical explanation: the core group involves players such as Shane Watson, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Steven Smith, James Faulkner, Stuart Binny, Pravin Tambe and Tim Southee. Then there are others such as Dhawal Kulkarni, Kane Richardson, Ben Cutting, and Abhishek Nayar.

Rajasthan have what they think they need to make a perfect playing eleven, as they have never believed in the slam-bang way of playing Twenty20 cricket. They rather have a cautious approach of building a platform and then launching the attack when batting. While bowling, they are the ones who can try and contain the opposition ranks. RR’s idea has always to utilise the available resources, which they do quite well.

Nevertheless, the latest additions in the likes of two overseas players —South Africans Chris Morris and Juan ‘Rusty’ Theron — make their bowling attack stronger. In the batting department they already have four strong men in Smith, Rahane, Watson and Samson. They have a dependable spinner in Tambe, but perhaps the burden of bowling was a bit too much on him and Southee. Rajasthan always needed strong bowlers after they lost three key players in the IPL 2013 spot-fixing and betting scandal.

The addition of Pardeep Sahu, Dinesh Salunkhe, B Singh Saran and SV Trivedi would definitely strengthen their batting order and the Indian contingent. But as far as Rajasthan Royals as a unit is concerned, they have not made any sweeping changes.

Strengths: RR have the habit of playing to their strengths and they do not depend on certain set of players to do the job for them.

Weaknesses: RR never had impact players in their ranks. But the way things have changed around for some of their players such as Smith, Southee and Rahane, RR will hope that these cricketers bring the success into IPL 2015.

Strange selection: Four domestic batsmen who are yet to be recognised. While RR can always rotate their players to keep them fit and fresh, the results may not come their way always.

Dark horse: Theron. The South African is a known success in shorter formats, and his inclusion would bring him to the limelight; the talks of comeback to his national side will also go up. Theron’s style of play completely suits RR’s demands.

(Devarchit Varma is a reporter with CricketCountry. He can be followed on Twitter @Devarchit)