IPL 2022 Mega Auction: 4 Players That Rajasthan Royals (RR) Might Retain

Indian cricket fans are exciting for the 2^nd leg of IPL 2021 in September-October later this year. On the other hand, IPL franchises are also keeping a close eye on IPL 2022 mega auction, which is set to take place next year. Since two new teams are going the join the T20 tournament from next year, the tournament will become a 10-team event in the 2022 season.

The mega auction will witness the transfer of many players to different franchises. However, each franchise will also be allowed to retain 4 players in their squad.

According to reports, the mega action rules will allow each franchise to retain 1 or 2 foreign players out of the 4, and the rest can be domestic. It will be a good opportunity for the Rajasthan Royals team to pick some prominent players from the different franchises.

In the last two seasons IPL 2019 and IPL 2020, Rajasthan Royals struggled to perform up to the mark and finished on the 7^th and 8^th spot in the points table respectively.

The franchise does have few strong international players in the squad but their teamwork has totally failed in the last two seasons. Rajasthan Royals will definitely aim to pick a few powerful batsmen and bowlers in IPL 2022 mega auction but there will also be few players that they will wish to retain. Here we talk about 4 players that Rajasthan Royals might retain in IPL 2022 mega auction.

IPL 2022 Mega Auction: 4 Players That Rajasthan Royals (RR) Might Retain

Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson is the first player that the franchise might retain for next year’s season. Ahead of IPL 2021, Rajasthan Royals dropped their former skipper Steve Smith from the squad and promoted Sanju Samson as the new skipper. While the team struggled under Samson’s leadership with 4 losses and 3 victories in 7 matches, the RR skipper bagged the limelight with his batting.

The right-handed batsman smashed a century in his first match itself and piled up 277 runs in 7 innings at an average of 46.19. He also owned a great strike rate of 145+. In the last few IPL seasons, Samson accounted for 375 runs, 342 runs, and 441 runs in IPL 2020, 2019, and 2018 respectively. Due to his consistent batting show, Rajasthan Royals has retained Sanju Samson over the years and the franchise might retain him again in the 2022 season.

Rahul Tewatia

Rahul Tewatia is another player that Rajasthan Royals might retain in IPL 2022 mega auction. The Indian all-rounder is an effective performer with both bat and the ball. Tewatia rose to the limelight in the last season, when the left-handed batsman scored 225 runs in 14 matches and also picked 10 wickets.

In IPL 2021, he played 7 matches, scoring 86 runs and picking 2 wickets. Since Tewatia can both bat and bowl, he is a good choice of an all-rounder for  Rajasthan Royals and hence franchise might retain him next season.

Jofra Archer

Jofra Archer is one overseas player that Rajasthan Royals will definitely retain during IPL 2022 mega auction. The England pacer made his international debut in May 2019 and since then has been phenomenal in international cricket.

With his bowling hitting a constant speed of 140+ km/hr, he manages to dominate the opposition batsmen.

In IPL too, the 26-year-old bowler has good stats so far. In his debut edition last year, he picked 20 wickets in 14 games for Rajasthan Royals at an incredible economy of just 6.55 and a bowling average of 18.25. Archer was injured ahead of IPL 2021 due to which he was ruled out of the tournament.

However, he will play in the second leg of the tournament later this year. Jofra Archer is an asset for Rajasthan Royals in the bowling department and the franchise is highly likely to retain him in IPL 2022.

Ben Stokes

Ben Stokes is another overseas player that Rajasthan Royals might retain in IPL 2022 mega action. The England cricketer is one of the best all-rounders in international cricket currently. The 30-year-old is a hard-hitting batsman and medium-pace bowler. In IPL 2021, he broke his finger in the first match itself and had to leave the tournament midway.

In the last season of IPL 2020, the left-handed batsman smashed 285 runs in 8 games along with 1 hundred and 1 fifty. Prior to that in IPL 2019, he scored 123 runs in 9 matches and picked 6 wickets. In the last two years, Ben Stokes has risen to the limelight in international cricket and developed himself as a very strong all-rounder.