2 players Rajasthan Royals are expected to retain for IPL 2018

The inaugural champions, Rajasthan Royals, will be back into the fray after two years of suspension. Rajasthan Royals last won the trophy in the first season of the Indian Premier League, back in 2008.

If they would want to reclaim the trophy after 10 years, it would be important for them to choose their most talented players out of their 2015 IPL squad.

According to me, the Royals will just go with 2 retentions and keep 3 Right-To-Match cards available at the upcoming auction, in January.

So, here are the two players Rajasthan Royals - RR are most likely to retain for the IPL 2018:

1. Steve Smith

Rajasthan Royals undoubtedly would like to secure the rights of the right-handed Australian batsman - Steve Smith. Smith has played some valuable knocks in the last 2 seasons for the Rising Pune Supergiants.

He ended up fourth on the orange cap list, having scored 472 runs in the last years IPL. Overall, he has scored 1703 runs at an impressive average of 37.02, having scored 1 century and 5 half-centuries.

Leading RPS last year, he came very close to tasting IPL glory. However, his team lost to the Mumbai Indians last year in a nail-biting final. Several players like Washington Sundar, Jaydev Unadkat, Shardul Thakur, etc, were groomed under his captaincy.

Rajasthan Royals would be more then happy to not only retain him as a player, but also retain him as their captain.

2. Ajinkya Rahane

Ajinkya Rahane can be retained by the Rajasthan Royals as he was a part of the squad in 2015. The classic right hander, had mainly played as an opener in the Royals team over the years.

Rahane has played some very good knocks for the Royals in the past. He is the only player who has hit 6 fours in a single over in the IPL. He scored 372 runs for the Rising Pune Supergiants in last year's IPL season. Across all seasons, Rahane has scored 3057 runs in 111 matches, with 1 century and 25 half-centuries to his name. 

Cheers,

Sparsh