The franchise had one of their worst seasons in IPL 2025.
Rajasthan Royals would easily be one of the franchises to have regularly made the headlines in the lead-up to the IPL 2026 auction. The management has been in the news right from when former skipper Sanju Samson expressed intentions to part ways with the franchise.
Finally, the trade between the maiden IPL season champions and the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) materialised, as the two franchises exchanged their marquee players in Sanju Samson, Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. However, the Rajasthan Royals will have some roles to plug in the IPL 2026 auction – the most important of which would be a lead spinner.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Rajasthan Royals – the RR targets, their squad, remaining purse and the probable auction picks & strategy ahead of the 19th edition of the coveted tournament.
Apart from the release of Sanju Samson, which came in the form of a trade, the Rajasthan Royals have retained most of their core players and will be in good shape ahead of the mini-auction. That being said, the Full Rajasthan Royals Players List will be updated soon after the auction on December 16, which is scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi.
Apart from the trades that the franchise executed, almost all the released players were expected to be where they ended up after the releases and retentions were rolled out in November. However, one of the most significant gaps that the Rajasthan Royals will have to fill in would be that of a lead spinner. The franchise has let go of both Theekshana and Hasaranga, which will require them to acquire the services of a lead spinner.
The franchise would also be after a good middle-order batter and some pace bowling options from the IPL 2026 auction. With the purse that they possess, the Rajasthan Royals would not aim for a lot of high-end players in terms of cost. They would rely a lot on their scouting team to guide them through the process in Abu Dhabi.
The RR targets at the IPL 2026 auction would focus on filling the following roles.
The franchise has acquired the services of Ravindra Jadeja, who would be their first choice in terms of the spinning options. However, the left-arm spinner would need assistance. This is why the franchise is expected to go after a spinning option in the IPL 2026 auction.
Batting for the franchise is more or less sorted, with the franchise having traded in Donovan Ferreira for the hard-hitting role. However, the team would look to secure another overseas pace bowling option in the auction. Jofra Archer is injury-prone, and Maphaka and Burger provide the same angles. Hence, they would look to go after a right-arm pacer.
To be updated on Auction day, i.e. December 16, 2025.
The franchise have the liberty of setting up their playing XI in more than one ways. That being said, they will have to figure out the best possible XI. Here’s what the team looks like ahead of the IPL 2026 auction.
As we can see in the playing XI mentioned above, most of the places for the Rajasthan Royals are sorted. The franchise needs to make sure that they get their bench strength right, and the most important point is the need of a spinner (Indian or overseas) to pair with Jadeja. Apart from that, the franchise is all set to revive their league story, which has been down and out in the last season.
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