IPL 2022 Mega Auction: Rajasthan will prepare base for next 5-6 years - Samson

The IPL 2022 Mega Auction will be held on Saturday and Sunday. Sanju Samson has affirmed that Rajasthan Royals will be building its base for the following five to six years in the auction.

Saturday and Sunday will witness the 2022 IPL Mega Auction, which will be held in Bengaluru. Just like every other team, former champion Rajasthan Royals (RR) too will be on the hunt to prepare its best squad for the next three seasons. However, skipper Sanju Samson has declared that the team will build its base for the next five to six years.

Ahead of the auction, RR has retained three players: Samson (₹14 crore), Jos Buttler (₹10 crore) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (₹4 crore). It will have a purse of ₹62 crore moving into the auction. RR had to let go of South African all-rounder Chris Morris, who retired from professional cricket this year, having roped in for a whopping ₹16.25 crore last year, the most expensive player in the auction history.

“This auction is really important because we know we could very well be preparing our base for the next 5-6 years. So, we’ve made sure to track everyone and give the opportunity to as many players as possible during the trials. Our goal is to now target the ones we think align with our vision, can embrace our values, and help our team get back to the top,” Samson was quoted as saying in a media statement by RR.

On the other hand, RR's Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara cited, “Our analytical assessments are detailed, right from the information we've collected on players to getting them integrated into a central database. We further filter the data, backed with a robust analytic process which enables us to arrive at the right metrics, further refining our overall player identification process. It's really quite a comprehensive process.”

RR has failed to win the title since winning the inaugural edition in 2008 under the leadership and guidance of Australian spin legend Shane Warne. In IPL 2021, it finished in the seventh spot. While Warne continues to be the team mentor, it has Zubin Bharucha as the Performance Director, along with Trevor Penney (assistant coach), Amol Mazumdar (batting coach), Sairaj Bahutule (spin bowling coach), Rob Cassell (fast bowling coach) and Dishant Yagnik (fielding coach).