Last Updated: May 30, 2026 03:34 PM
Rajasthan had a decent season overall honestly. Finished fourth in the table which was okay. Beat the Sunrisers in the Eliminator match. Made it to Qualifier 2 which was decent. But then lost to Gujarat by 7 wickets. The team’s IPL 2026 journey basically ended there. May 29 was the final day.
Rajasthan scored 214 runs but still lost. So Gujarat chased down that total easily. The performance wasn’t good enough at crucial moments. Multiple players didn’t do their job properly. Some guys played really well though. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was amazing at just 15 years old. Jofra Archer bowled beautifully throughout the season.
But several other players flopped completely honestly. They cost the team money and spots. Now RR is probably going to release them. Five players look like they’re definitely going. Some of them were bought for a lot of money.
- Shimron Hetmyer
Shimron Hetmyer was retained for 11 crore rupees. That’s massive money for one player but he completely failed to deliver. Scored only 78 runs in 8 matches. That’s an average of less than ten. Nobody could justify that retention at all.
He got dropped from the playing eleven. Donovan Ferreira replaced him immediately. And Ferreira absolutely smashed the bowling. Scored 317 runs at a strike rate of 179. The difference was like night and day. Hetmyer’s time at RR is probably over now.
- Adam Milne
Adam Milne played only one match. Took zero wickets in that game. Cost the team 2.4 crore. That’s straight-up wasted money basically. Better overseas pacers are available around. Jofra and Nandre Burger are already there. So Milne won’t be retained at all.
- Ravi Bishnoi
Ravi Bishnoi started off really well. 9 wickets in his first 4 matches. Everyone was excited about his performance. Then, suddenly he became invisible by taking only 1 wicket in the next 5 matches. Got dropped from the playing eleven after that. The economy rate became expensive too.
- Tushar Deshpande
Tushar Deshpande cost 6.5 crore. Acquired in the mega auction last year. But took only 4 wickets in 7 matches. The bowling was really inconsistent and bad. Team preferred Brijesh and Sandeep Sharma instead. That tells you everything about Tushar’s performance.
- Lhuan-dre Pretorius/Dasun Shanaka
Young Lhuan-dre Pretorius also disappointed badly. South African batter got just 7 runs. In just a couple of matches played. He’ll probably look elsewhere for opportunities.
Dasun Shanaka also flopped badly. The guy was signed as a replacement for Curran. Got just 63 runs in 7 matches. One wicket with the ball as well. That’s basically useless all around. Nobody needed someone like that honestly.
RR will definitely release these guys now. The franchise needs to rebuild and improve. Better players are available in the next auction. These five underperformed and cost money. Time for fresh blood in the squad basically.
