30 November 2021, National: Royals Sports Group-owned franchise Rajasthan
Royals today revealed a list of retained players ahead of the Indian Premier
League 2022 Auction. The franchise has retained two Indians and one overseas
player in the form of their influential skipper Sanju Samson, uncapped fearless
young batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, along with England’s talismanic star JosButtler.
Having appointed Sanju Samson as their
leader before the 2021 season, the Royals have chosen the mercurial batter as
the first retained player, with ₹14 crores coming off
their purse. The right-handed batter has amassed 3068 runs in 121 IPL matches
with a strike rate of 134.20 since making his debut with the Royals back in
2013, spending seven seasons with the franchise.
"Having started my IPL journey with
the Royals, and now leading this franchise is a huge honour for me as we look
to further strengthen our roots with an eye on the IPL trophy yet again with
both - familiar and fresh faces - but strong hearts," stated Sanju Samson.
Meanwhile, the Royals’ second retained
player at a cost of ₹10 crores is the 50-over World Cup winning Englishman, Jos
Buttler, who is considered by many as the best T20I batter in the world
currently. His superlative performances for both the Royals and the England
National Team have stood out over the years, and with 1968 runs under his belt
in 65 IPL matches at a strike rate of 150, the 31-year-old will serve as a
vital player for the franchise.
“I’m really excited to be staying with the
Rajasthan Royals. Over the past four seasons, I’ve received tremendous love and
support from the franchise and its supporters, and I consider the Royals as my
second home. I’m delighted to be continuing with the team and looking forward
to contributing towards creating a champion side,” said Jos Buttler upon
finalizing his stay at the Royals.
Uncapped 19-year-old Yashasvi Jaiswal
becomes the second youngest player ever to be retained across all IPL teams
before the mega auction, with the youngest being Jaiswal’s current skipper at
the Royals - Sanju Samson, who was retained at the age of 19 years and 2 months
by the franchise in 2014. Jaiswal was bought by the Royals in the 2020 Auction
for a sum of ₹2.4 crores, and has since played 13 matches in all, impressing
with a tally of 249 runs in 10 games at a strike rate of 148.21 in IPL 2021.
The franchise has decided to back his potential as an explosive top order
batter which sees the confident looking left-hander being retained as the third
player by the Royals for ₹4 crores.
“It is a very satisfying reward for the
hard work that I’ve put in over the past couple of seasons. To have the backing
of the franchise – the owner, coaches and management - is a huge motivating
factor for me, and I can’t wait to repay the faith that has been shown in me.
To be in a team which is known to hone and give opportunities to young talent,
I couldn’t be more happier and excited for what is to come,” expressed an
emotional Jaiswal.
Director of Cricket, Kumar Sangakkara
spoke on the approach behind the retention, “We had to take a lot of factors
into consideration while making this decision and would have ideally liked to
have gone with four players but the uncertainty surrounding Jofra's long term
injury forced us to retain only three. The idea behind going with these players
was to have a strong core retained who also happen to form the leadership team
at the Royals, while also giving us spending power in the auction. It was
certainly a tough decision to make, but we are delighted to confirm that Sanju,
Jos and Yashasvi will be staying with us as the backbone of our team. We
believe that this trio of explosive players are the best to take this team
forward, and have the desired qualities that we are looking for in our players
as we look forward to the next season. We would also
like to thank all of the players for their efforts through the
course of the previous seasons, and for always maintaining the Rajasthan
Royals values."
RETENTIONS:
INDIANS:
Sanju Samson
Yashasvi Jaiswal (uncapped)
OVERSEAS:
Jos Buttler
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