IPL 2023 Auction: 3 Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Players Rajasthan Royals (RR) Can Target

IPL 2023 Auction: 3 Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Players Rajasthan Royals (RR) Can Target. Rajasthan Royals had a memorable campaign during the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League 2022. They meant business from the very first game and finished second at the end of the group stage with nine wins in 14 games.

Sanju Samson & co. conquered Royal Challengers Bangalore in the second qualifier to reach the Final but failed to recreate history as they lost the summit clash to Gujarat Titans.

Jos Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal led Rajasthan’s charge in the IPL 2022 season and were the winners of the Orange Cap and Purple Cap respectively. The think tank had done a pretty good job at the mega auction 2022 to assemble a quality squad and it clearly paid dividends.

Rajasthan Royals were the first-ever champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) way back in 2008, but after winning the inaugural season of the league, they lost their way for a long time and struggled to even make it to the playoffs consistently in the last decade.

However, during the last IPL 2022, after assembling a new team in the mega auction, Rajasthan Royals showed the old spark again under the captaincy of Sanju Samson and they made it to the final of the tournament before losing against the Gujarat Titans.

Ahead of the next IPL 2023 mini-auction, which will be held in mid-December, Rajasthan Royals might retain most of their players from the last year’s squad. Rajasthan Royals might release the likes of Rassie Van Der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell, Navdeep Saini, Karun Nair and Obed McCoy.

Changing the captain didn’t bring KKR any luck as Shreyas Iyer’s side finished in the bottom half of the table. KKR had done poorly at last year’s auction and so their results weren’t surprising. They need to do better at this year’s auction to bounce back in the IPL. The likes of Aaron Finch, Ajinkya Rahane, Ashok Sharma, Shivam Mavi, Pratham Singh, and Ramesh Kumar may be released by the franchise ahead of IPL 2023 auctions.

Kolkata Knight Riders appointed Chandrakant Pandit as their new Head Coach, replacing New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum. Chandrakant Pandit is a high-profile coach in the Indian domestic circuit, having won trophies with Mumbai, Vidharba, and Madhya Pradesh. He is known to get the best out of his cricketers.

IPL 2023 Auction: 3 Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) Players Rajasthan Royals (RR) Can Target

Rinku Singh

Rinku Singh was acquired by KKR in 2018 for INR 80 lakh. Even though the first season didn’t turn out to be great, his potential was considered and he was retained for IPL 2019 as well.  He had a good IPL 2022 season, where he managed 174 runs in 7 innings averaging 34.8 at a strike rate of 148.72 after performing poorly in IPL 2018, IPL 2019, and IPL 2020.

Rinku Singh scored useful runs against Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2022 chipping in with an unbeaten 42 off 23 balls to seal the tie with five balls to spare. He may be targeted by Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2023.

Sam Billings

England wicket-keeper batsman Sam Billings made his IPL debut for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) in 2016. He scored 54 against KKR in a game which ended up being his highest score that season. He found himself in the KKR setup in IPL 2022– the team he scored his highest score against in his debut season.

Since his 2016 debut, Sam Billings has gone on to play for the Chennai Super Kings as well wherein he got a total of 10 games under his belt in 2018. His highest score of 56 once again came against KKR that season. However, he managed only 169 runs in 8 IPL 2022 games averaging 24.14 and if released by KKR ahead of IPL 2023, he may be targeted by Rajasthan.

Tim Southee

Tim Southee, who has proven his skills with both red and white balls, is useful with the bat as well. He’s represented Chennai Super Kings, Rajasthan Royals, Royal Challengers Bangalore & Mumbai Indians in the past with varying success in the IPL but has also demonstrated that he can hit the long ball when he’s asked to do so, adding further utility to his game.

He was part of the Kolkata Knight Riders set up in 2021 and he was brought back by the KKR franchise in 2022. He picked 14 scalps in 9 games in IPL 2022 averaging 19.64 and if he’s released by KKR, he may be picked up by Rajasthan in IPL 2023 which means he would pair up with his Kiwi teammate Trent Boult in the RR squad. He will be on RR’s radar in IPL 2023.