IPL 2019: 3 Unsold players who could have helped Rajasthan qualify for the playoffs 

At the start of IPL 2019, Rajasthan Royals had a well-balanced squad on paper and they would have fancied their chances before the start of the season. However, they were slow to get off the blocks and could manage to win only in their 4th game. They could win only 2 of their first 8 games and their season was pretty much done and dusted. It was at this point that RR made Steve Smith their captain.

This started a remarkable turnaround for them and they won 3 of their next 4. Relieved of captaincy, Ajinkya Rahane found form and new skipper, Steve Smith relished the role of being captain. These 2 along with the likes of Sanju Samson, Shreyas Gopal, and Jofra Archer carried the team. 17 year old, Riyan Parag also won them games.

However, a washed out game against RCB ended their chances of qualifying, RR spent a lot of money on a few players at the auction, and it left them with a minimal budget to buy other players. On that note, let us have a look at 3 unsold players who could have helped RR qualify for the playoffs.

#3 Parvez Rasool

Parvez Rasool has fallen from being an Indian cricketer 2 years ago to being an IPL discard. He was among India's top 10 spinners a couple of years ago but is now finding it hard to get an IPL contract. It is quite surprising that he has gone unsold in the auction for 2-3 years, even though, he has been performing well in the Syed Mushtaq Ali trophy. He picked up 5 wickets in 5 games at an economy rate of 6.75 in the 2019 Mushtaq Ali tourney.

While Shreyas Gopal picked up wickets on a consistent basis, he didn't have another spinner to support him. Riyan Parag isn't a full-time bowler and the likes of Krishnappa Gowtham and Sudhesan Midhun failed to deliver. They couldn't accommodate Ish Sodhi as they had to use their other overseas players to give the team a balanced look.

In such a scenario, Rasool could have been the perfect foil to Shreyas Gopal. While Rasool would stem the flow of runs, Gopal could have picked up wickets from the other end. He has an economy rate of 6.8 in T20 cricket and has picked up 41 wickets in 51 games.

#2 Ishan Porel

The 20-year old pacer Ishan Porel has gone unsold in the IPL auction for 2 consecutive seasons and it is quite surprising. He was highly impressive with his pace and swing in the 2018 U19 World Cup and played a key role in India's victorious run. Due to his height, he can extract bounce on any kind of surface and used it to good effect in the tournament.

He enjoyed a fruitful domestic season with Bengal and picked up wickets in all formats of the game for them. In the Syed Mushtaq Ali tournament, he picked up 9 wickets in 7 games at a strike rate of 18.6 and had an impressive economy rate of 6.5. RR's Indian pacers were off colour for the majority of the season, and they didn't have a lot of Indian fast bowlers at their disposal.

While Varun Aaron was impressive, Jaydev Unadkat and Dhawal Kulkarni were woefully out of form. Ishan Porel would have been a useful buy for them as he could have operated in the power play and in the middle overs.

#1 Rilee Rossouw

Rilee Rossouw has been in great form over the last few months and has been scoring runs at a good strike rate. He finished as the highest run scorer in the Bangladesh Premier League with 558 runs at an average of 69.75 and had a terrific strike rate of 150. He had a strike rate in excess of 135 in the Pakistan Super League and scored 295 runs.

RR didn't have an overseas option for their middle order as the likes of Ben Stokes and Ashton Turner were in poor form. Liam Livingstone is a top order batsman and they didn't have other options. Rossouw would have been a good option for them as he could have shored up the middle order. He could have finished off games for them with his calmness and big shots.

Rilee has scored 4071 runs in 159 innings at an average of 29.07 with a strike rate of 133.7 in T20 cricket and would have proved to be a valuable addition to the Rajasthan squad.