IPL 2026 Rajasthan Royals (RR) Best Retained Squad Players List

Sanju Samson in contention in our best retained players list for Rajasthan Royals (RR) for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026. 

Entering a fresh year after a Mega Auction, the Pink Army, Rajasthan Royals hasn’t had a year that they would be proud of. Having rebuilt their squad in the IPL 2025 Mega Auction, Rajasthan Royals could only manage 3 wins so far in the tournament. While this isn’t the performance they will be proud of, the fact that they lost as many as 5 close matches, could have changed their overall Standings in the points table.

When the Rajasthan Royals shared their retentions ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction, the three most shocking things were the non-retention of Jos Buttler, and the retention of Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer at an exorbitant price. The results were also quite visible as Jos Buttler played like a champion for GT this season with over 500 runs, but Dhurv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer couldn’t do much.

In the Auction, Rajasthan Royals added a lot of Overseas bowlers in the form of Jofra Archer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Kwena Maphaka, and Fazalhaq Farooqi. With so many new additions, but only in the bowling department, which players will RR look to retain given they didn’t have the outcome as expected. Well, let’s look at the best retained squad players list for Rajasthan Royals (RR) for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025.

IPL 2026 Rajasthan Royals (RR) Best Retained Players List

If we talk about the batters that RR will retain, we have three confirmed names in the form of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Shubham Dubey, and a tentative member in the form of Shimron Hetmyer. Both Yashasvi and Vaibhav had a stunning IPL 2025, and should be retained without any doubt. Shubham Dubey was good as an uncapped player, and has the potential. Whereas Hetmyer may still get retained even after an average IPL.

When it comes to wicket-keepers, Rajasthan Royals have two solid options in the form of Captain Sanju Samson and Dhurv Jurel. While Sanju’s performance has mostly been affected due to injury, he still did decent in the matches he played. Whereas we can say Dhruv also did well in the season, even though most of his performances came in a losing cause, and he couldn’t help finish matches for the team. But Dhruv should only improve from here with tremendous learning behind his back. 

In terms of all-rounders, Rajasthan Royals doesn’t have many quality names to retain. Technically they don’t have an all-rounder in the side. All they have is three part-time all-rounders in the form of Riyan Parag, Nitish Rana, and Wanindu Hasaranga. While Riyan has been solid with his performance this season, the same can’t be said about Nitish or Wanindu Hasaranga. These two weren’t good, but they weren’t bad either. So, expect RR to retain all three All-rounders.

Bowlers in Focus

Coming to the bowlers, this is the area that will see the most retentions for IPL 2026. There are many quality bowlers in the RR side, and even as they couldn’t perform as expected, expect RR to still go ahead, and retain them. Among Overseas bowlers, RR should mostly retain Jofra Archer, Maheesh Thekshana, and Nandre Burger. Whereas among Indian bowlers, RR should retain Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Akash Madhwal, and Yudhvir Charak.   

So, as we can see, RR should retain a lot of bowlers, and will try and find a way to be more consistent in their line and length. The batting for RR is still their strength, but the team may need 2-3 good all-rounders in their side, who can give solid 2 to 3 overs, and can bat in the lower-order. Also, with only 5-6 players getting in the release list, RR will have a good purse to buy 4-5 quality players. Overall, expect RR to release the likes of Ashok Sharma, Kunal Rathore, Kumar Kartikeya, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kwena Maphaka, and Lhuan de Pretorius. These players didn’t add much value, and it will be better to release them, and buy gap players in the Auction.

IPL 2026 Best Released Players List for Rajasthan Royals (RR)

1. Ashok Sharma
2. Kunal Rathore
3. Kumar Kartikeya
4. Fazalhaq Farooqi (o)
5. Kwena Maphaka (o)
6. Lhuan de Pretorius (o)

IPL 2026 Best Retained Players List for Rajasthan Royals (RR)

Batters: Shimron Hetmyer (o), Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi & Yashasvi Jaiswal

WKs: Dhruv Jurel & Sanju Samson (c)

All-rounders: Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag & Wanindu Hasaranga (o)

Bowlers: Akash Madhwal, Jofra Archer (o), Maheesh Theekshana (o), Nandre Burger (o), Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande & Yudhvir Charak

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