Rajasthan Royals (RR) will go through an upheaval, just a year after the mega auction, after they finished 9th on the points table, with only 4 wins to their name.
The Indian Premier League mini-auction will take place at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday, December 16.
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Ahead of the auction, they have traded their captain Sanju Samson away to the Chennai Super Kings in exchange for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran.
As they look to solve some major bowling issues, we explore their potential targets for the season.
RR auction purse and squad gaps for IPL 2026
After completing multiple trades and releasing most of their Indian bowling attack, RR are left with ₹16.05 crore left in their purse.
Their major area of concern in the auction will be the bowling attack, while Jofra Archer leads their attack. Additionally, they will want to add a leg spinner to the team after releasing Maheesh Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga.
At last, they will try to rope in cheap options to strengthen their middle order, after they let go of Nitish Rana.
Pacers for RR:
With a limited budget to spend, RR's primary concern will be to address the fast bowling roster.
Currently, they have Sandeep Sharma and Tushar Deshpande in the department alongside the leader of the pack Jofra Archer, Kwena Maphaka and Nandre Burger as the main bowlers.
The following are some good market opportunities for them in the pace bowling department:
- Kuldeep Sen
- Akash Deep
Leg-spinners for RR:
With the releases of Hasaranga and Theekshana, RR are left with Jadeja as their frontline spinner, alongside Riyan Parag, as a part-timer.
- Rahul Chahar
- Vignesh Puthur
- Karn Sharma
Middle-order batters for RR:
The Royals have some good depth of young players in the middle order, led by Parag and Dhruv Jurel. With the addition of Donavon Ferreira, they can look to add another Indian batter, who will be available as some cheaper price from the auction.
- Mahipal Lomror
- Abhinav Manohar
Related links:
- 10 uncapped Indian players expected to fetch huge bids at IPL 2026 auction
- Glenn Maxwell to Faf du Plessis: Big names missing from the IPL 2026 mini-auction
- Full list of players registered for Indian Premier League mini-auction
- IPL 2026 Auction: Date, Players List, Rules & Mini-Auction Preview
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