Rajasthan Royals have pretty much less to sort out in terms of their squad when it comes to the IPL 2026 auction but certainly do have some gaps to fill. The side has traded Sanju Samson and Nitish Rana to CSK and DC respectively while they have recieved 2 all-rounders in the form of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran. RR, who boast of a strng batting line-up and an overseas pace battery, still need a few spots to fill – an back-up opener, an overseas power-hitter in the middle-order and an Indian pacer spearhead. Ahead of the IPL 2026 auction, let us take a look at some of the players RR can target.
Players RR should eye at IPL 2026 auction
RR will not be impacted by the trade of Samson, for they have their opening combo of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi in place. Yet, the team will need a back-up opener, just in case on of them are injured or unavailable. In that case, they have three options that they can target – Conway, Rachin and JFM. While the former two are not that explosive, they have established themselves as viable opening options for CSK over the years. Meanwhile, the Aussie opener did have a bad season in IPL 2025 but that doesn’t discount for the fact that he can be quite destructive as well. By recuriting either of the three, RR can be rest assured that they have a stable back-up opener.
| Players (s) | Type |
| Mohit Sharma | Indian fast-bowler |
| Akash Deep | Indian fast-bowler |
| Ravi Bishnoi | Indian spinner |
| Liam Livingstone / Glenn Maxwell | Overseas spin all-rounder |
| Rachin Ravindra / Devon Conway / Jake Fraser-McGurk | Overseas openers |
Next, RR lack an experienced Indian fast-bowler as their current unit comprises of just Sandeep and Tushar. They could target former DC star Mohit Sharma – who has a rich experience in the IPL. Or, they could even go for Akash – who was released by LSG ahead of the IPL 2026 mini-auction. Adding either one of them to their squad will bolster their Indian pace-bowling line-up and will come as an much-required boost for Sandeep as well.
While Jadeja will emerge as their spin spearhead for IPL 2026, RR have very little specialist options who can compliment him. In that case, they could very well target Ravi Bishnoi, who has been released by LSG.
Meanwhile, RR could go for either Liam Livingstone or Glenn Maxwell – both players who are all-rounders and destructive middle-order batters who can compliment Jadeja effectively. It is pertinent to point out that RR have just one overseas slot left and hence would have to make their choice wisely as to whether they want to use it for all-rounders or a back-up opener.
RR squad before IPL 2026 auction
Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Jofra Archer, Kwena Maphaka, Lhuan-Dre Pretorious, Nandre Burger, Ravindra Jadeja, Riyan Parag, Sam Curran, Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Tushar Deshpande, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashaswi Jaiswal, Yudhvir Charak
Retained: 16
Overseas players: 7
Purse remaining: Rs 16.05 crore
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