The Royals released nine players as part of their retention process. They have a remaining purse of ₹13.2 crore heading into the auction in Kochi on December 23.
In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra opined that Mayank and Manish Pandey should not be in the Rajasthan Royals’ scheme of things at the auction. He reasoned:
The former Indian opener feels Sanju Samson’s side could target Heinrich Klaasen at the auction. He explained:
The Royals could field a top six of Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Samson, Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, and Riyan Parag based on their current squad. However, they would want to have more options in the middle order, an area that proved to be their Achilles heel in IPL 2022.
“It looks like a decent team in both batting and bowling” - Aakash Chopra on the Rajasthan Royals
Chopra believes the Rajasthan Royals have a well-rounded unit. He elaborated:
However, the reputed commentator pointed out a couple of areas where the Jaipur-based franchise will need to strengthen. He stated:
Chopra explained that the Rajasthan Royals will not be able to field Obey McCoy and Trent Boult together in the playing XI if they opt to play another overseas middle-order batter, considering Buttler and Hetmyer are almost certain picks.
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