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Picking six retention options for an IPL franchise is difficult. But it's especially arduous for a team like Rajasthan Royals (RR), who have looked like they need a couple of missing parts and not make a couple of silly mistakes at the end of the season to get their hands on the title, for the last few years.
So we have left it to experts and auction dynamic analysts. Instead, we have picked three players who should be first on the list for RR's retention policy, irrespective of what they decide to do with their other three choices.
These picks have been made considering two things - the importance of the player on the RR side and the value they might be able to get in the auction, making using the RTM on them unprofitable for the team. Check it out:
#3 Riyan Parag
RR had been grooming Riyan Parag for five years before he finally had a breakthrough season in 2024, scoring a third-highest 573 runs at an average of 52 and a strike rate of just under 150. This would be the worst possible time to let him go.
In previous seasons, he might have derived upto ₹5 crore in IPL auctions, but that number, after his India debut recently, would be over ₹15 crore. He's now a big pillar of RR's Indian core.
But those aren't the only reasons for RR to retain him either. His unprecedented backing aside, there have been many signs that the franchise sees Parag as more than just a player - like them allocating a certain number of their IPL games to his hometown Guwahati, and sending him for the press conference.
The team has pushed Parag almost like the face of the franchise, and losing him will be a hammer blow to their future preparations. More skillful players can be signed at the auction, but such loyalties with youngsters aiming to be India regulars take time to build and RR won't want to do it all over again.
#2 Yashasvi Jaiswal
RR's loyalties are equally strong with Yashasvi Jaiswal. But unlike Parag, who is trying to find his feet in international cricket, Jaiswal has been locked in as India's Test opener for the foreseeable future and might soon make the position his own in T20Is and ODIs too.
Good tours of Australia and England in the next two years would elevate Jaiswal to the same stature that Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had for Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Mumbai Indians in their early IPL years. That's the kind of player you make your first retention if you need to, to ensure they stay with you for as long as possible.
Ability-wise, too, he has been one of the most consistent openers in the league for a long time. Every other franchise would jump on the opportunity to sign an exploded left-handed Indian opener with massive brand value; RR can't allow that.
#1 Sanju Samson
Now, the first two were relatively easy choices. With Samson, who's neither young anymore, nor an India regular, RR might have to think twice before spending as much as ₹18 crore on him.
But not retaining him would be as bad as the other two. Firstly, readymade captains aren't easy to acquire in the auction - it takes resources and perseverance to align a player with a franchise's vision, get them to gel with owners and youngsters, and finally give them enough time to get results.
Samson's project at RR had done all the steps but fell out just before the results in the second half of the season twice. Releasing him now would mean going through another two or three-year cycle like that and being a step behind many other teams that will likely retain their captains.
They can't even expect to release and RTM him back for less than ₹15 crore because there are teams like the Punjab Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who might not retain their captains and look for someone in the auction.
Samson has also solved the "complaint" many former cricketers had from him - consistency. He has had five consecutive 350-plus runs seasons, with strike rates hovering around 145. Not to forget that he's also a wicketkeeper who can bat explosively at any position in the batting order.
It's not to say that Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Dhruv Jurel shouldn't be among RR's retention choices, but the aforementioned three are too good to let go, for any price, at least in 2025.
