IPL 2021 Auction: 3 Players That Rajasthan Royals (RR) Will Target

The inaugural IPL winners Rajasthan Royals (RR) finished in the last position in the IPL 2020, while they were the second-last team in the IPL 2019. So, the IPL 2021 auction is going to be very crucial for Rajasthan Royals.

Recently, Rajasthan Royals franchise released Steve Smith, Akash Singh, Anirudha Joshi, Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Shashank Singh, Tom Curran and Varun Aaron. Moreover, they have also traded out Robin Uthappa to Chennai Super Kings (CSK). While they have 9 slots available ahead of the IPL 2021 auction, they can add maximum three overseas players.

Observing the present situation, Rajasthan Royals require at least one experienced Indian opening batsman, some pace bowlers (especially Indians) and also at least one good top middle-order batsman. In the IPL 2021 auction, They can also go for the useful non-English overseas cricketers, who can be used in crucial period of IPL 2021, when some English cricketers will not be available for selections.

IPL 2021 Auction: 3 players that Rajasthan Royals (RR) will target

Kedar Devdhar

Baroda cricketer Kedar Devdhar is a wicket-keeper batsman. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020/21, he played some good back-to-back knocks to provide strong starts for his domestic team. He has already scored 269 runs in 6 matches of this tournament (average 89.66; strike-rate 108.46), including his best score 99 not out. Kedar has also scored three 40s in this tournament. He has also scored a T20 century in January 2018.

Kedar Devdhar has played only one IPL match till the date, which was for now-defunct Deccan Chargers against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at Dharamsala on 21st May 2011.

Though he hasn’t any good IPL experience, Rajasthan Royals can buy him in the IPL 2021 auction after looking his recent consistent batting performances.

Sachin Baby

The 32-year-old Sachin Baby can be a good option for Rajasthan Royals for the top-middle-order batting position in the upcoming IPL 2021. While he already played IPL for Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH), the left-handed batsman scored 137 runs in 18 IPL matches. He last time played an IPL match in 2017 edition.

However, he impressed in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2020/21 while serving for Kerala as a top-middle-order batsman. In both their last two games of this tournament, he scored half-centuries (51* & 68). He finished this tournament by scoring 168 runs in 5 matches. Sachin Baby is also effective as a part time off-spinner.

James Pattinson

The 30-year-old Australian right-arm pacer James Pattinson is now growing up again. Australian national cricket team management has now put serious eye on him due to his recent success as a bowler. In the IPL 2020, he got 11 wickets in 10 matches, serving for the champions Mumbai Indians (MI).

But while Mumbai Indians have still released him ahead of the IPL 2021 auction, Rajasthan Royals can grab this opportunity in the forthcoming auction.

While IPL 2020 was his first IPL experience, which was good enough, James Pattinson has a good scope to impress in future IPL tournaments.