Bengaluru, January 30: Rajasthan Royals signalled their return to the Indian Premier League in a big way by making the two most expensive buys at the IPL auction on January 27-28.
Royals bought England all-rounder Ben Stokes for Rs 12.5 crore ($1.9 million approx), making him the most expensive player this time around. They also spent Rs 11.5 crore for Jaydev Unadkat, the leading wicket-taker in IPL 2017 with 24 scalps and Man of the Series against Sri Lanka recently.
IPL Auction Special Site; Full list of teams; Full list of unsold players
Royals retained one of the world's best batsman in Steve Smith, while also spending big on Karnataka spinner K Gowtham. Smith will be leading the squad in this season.
Rajasthan will be in action on day one of IPL 2018, playing the second game on April 7 against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur.
(1 USD = 63.65372 INR | Currency converter)
Squad strength: 23
Overseas players: 8
Funds remaining: Rs 1.65 crore
Player/s retained:
Indian: none
Overseas: Steve Smith (Rs 12 crore)
Bought at auction:
Indian: Jaydev Unadkat, Sanju Samson, Gowtham Krishnappa, Ajinkya Rahane, Rahul Tripathi, Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Anureet Singh, Aryaman Vikram Birla, Prashant Chopra, Ankit Sharma, Shreyas Gopal, Mahipal Lomror, Midhun S, Jatin Saxena
Overseas: Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Darcy Short, Zahir Khan Pakteen, Ben Laughlin, Dushmanta Chameera
Costliest player/s for RR this season: Ben Stokes - Rs 12.5 crore (at auction), Steve Smith - Rs 12 crore (retained).