IPL 2019: 5 Players RR should get in the trade

With 2019 World Cup slated to take place from May end, IPL 2019, India's rather the world's biggest league, is all set to be preponed as a rule as per BCCI states that the Indian team cannot take part in any event before or after the 15 days of IPL. Besides, it is also the reason why India will start their 2019 World Cup campaign on 5th June 2019 (after 15 days of the completion of IPL 2019) against South Africa.

Having said all of that, the committee administrating IPL has finalized 15th November 2018 as the penultimate date for the retention and release/trade of players.

Sportskeeda also learns that while trading a particular player the particular franchise may have to release a player or two to offset the deal. For example, recently, MI bought Quinton de Kock (bought for INR 2.8 Crore by RCB in 2018) from RCB while releasing their two players - Mustafizur Rahman (bought for INR 2.2 Crore by MI in 2018) and Akila Dananjaya (bought for INR 50 Lakh by MI in 2018).

Hence, after having been through all the technicalities of the trade let us look at five players that Rajasthan Royals (RR) should eye ahead of the 15th November deadline.

RR has had a pretty decent IPL 2018 under the tutelage of Ajinkya Rahane who captained RR in IPL 2018 after the exclusion of Steve Smith. RR finished fourth in the points table after losing to KKR in the Eliminator.

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#1 Jason Roy: Stint at Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2018

Jason Roy along with Jos Buttler will form a formidable opener

Jason Roy, England's hard-hitting opener, has been one of the best openers in the current scheme of limited overs cricket, especially the 20-over cricket. With an ability to slog the white cherry out of the ground, Roy has been a prospective option for many T20 franchises across the globe.

In Jason Roy, RR could find an attacking opening batsman who could do wonders with Jos Buttler as his partner. For a good part of the tournament, RR rotated D'Arcy Short, Rahul Tripathi, and Ajinkya Rahane in the opening department. However, after abysmal performances from the other openers, Buttler was promoted to open, and we all know the result.

Thus, with RR already fixed with an opener in the name of Buttler, Roy seems to be an upright choice. Besides, it will also allow Rahane to bat in the middle-order alongside Steve Smith.

Nonetheless, with cricket being all about finding the right combination, RR might as well want to rotate between Roy and Rahane in the top order to make the batting go deep. All in all, Roy could turn out to be a decent addition for RR in the IPL 2019.

Jason Roy, while playing for DD in IPL 2018, scored 120 runs at an average of 30.00 and a respectable strike-rate of 127.65.

#2 Cameron Delport: Stint at Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2018

Cameron Delport will turn out to be a decent addition in Royals middle-order

Cameron Delport, a swashbuckling T20 specialist from South Africa, could turn out to be a decent addition for RR as well. Royals struggled considerably in the middle-order in IPL 2018. With Rahane at the top, Smith not playing, and Ben Stokes out of form, Royals had a tough time in the middle-order where they failed to build upon the opening starts.

Hence, Delport might come handy for RR in the middle-order where he would keep the scoreboard ticking along with vital push at equal intervals. Besides, Delport would also face little problems while acclimatizing to Indian pitches as he would have gained enough experience till then after being a part of APL 2018 where the cricket pitches follow the same trend as of Indian sub-continent pitches.

In addition to that, Delport is also a decent bowler who could chip in with two or more overs. Thus, including Delport will only add to the strength of the RR batting line-up, especially the middle-order.

The 29-year old batting all-rounder, who was a part of KKR in IPL 2018, has scored 3717 runs at an average of 25.63 and a strike-rate of 136.90 in T20s. Besides, he has also taken 48 wickets.

#3 Abhishek Sharma: Stint at Delhi Daredevils in IPL 2018

Abhishek Sharma specializes in left-arm spin

Abhishek Sharma, a U-19 World Cup winning player, came to limelight in U-19 Asia Cup 2016 where he led India to a scintillating victory as a captain. However, he was then replaced by Prithvi Shaw as the captain for the U-19 World Cup in 2018. Sharma is a specialist left-arm spinner who can also bat if given the opportunity.

He also showed his credentials in IPL 2018 while playing for DD. He played three matches in IPL 2018 where he scored 63 runs at an average of 63.00 and an excellent strike-rate of 190.90. Nonetheless, he failed to grab wickets in any of the matches.

Given a close look at Sharma, he can turn out to be a regular affair in Royals' XI where he would specialize as a lower-order batsman and a spinner who could bowl sharp left-arm jaffas. His addition would stabilize the lower-order for Royals without compromising any of the departments.

Thus, going by their policy of recruiting young talents, RR should eye Abhishek ahead of the deadline which would help the Royals to field a better XI in IPL 2019. Besides, Sharma being an Indian player, Royals would not have to negotiate on their overseas strength.

#4 Chris Jordan: Stint at Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2018

Chris Jordan could bring a sense of stability to Royals' bowling lineup

Chris Jordan, a Barbados born English cricketer, has been a decent bowler in the limited overs schemes. Besides that, he is also an able lower-order batsman who can bat if the situation demands. Another prospective addition of Jordan is his outstanding fielding. You will never have a bad on the field with Jordan on board.

Hence, eyeing Chris Jordan in the IPL 2019 trade will be not a bad idea at all. Royals could recruit Chris as a prospective replacement to Ben Laughlin who had an ordinary IPL 2018.

Although Jordan has that problem of leaking runs at above 8.5 runs per over, his excellent bowling strike-rate puts all the claims down. He has an outstanding strike-rate of 16.50 with the best figures being 4 for 11 in his IPL career.

Besides, with RR lacking experience in death over bowling options (leaving aside Jofra Archer), Jordan stands a prominent place in Royals' bowling lineup.

Thus, Jordan happens to be one of those players whom Royals should trade for the IPL 2019. Chris Jordan was a part of SRH in IPL 2018.

#5 Moeen Ali: Stint at Royal Challengers Bangalore in IPL 2018

Moeen Ali would bring stability in Royals' lineup

Moeen Ali, a left-handed batting (bowls right-handed) English all-rounder, has been on an upward curve in the recent things of cricket. One of the prominent qualities that Ali possess is his ability to bat at any position. Well, off-breaks are the primary ones. But his quality of fitting in any position helps any team to generate a great sense of adaptability.

Although he hasn't been a T20 specialist, Moeen would unquestionably add strength to the RR camp with his pedigree with the bat as well as the ball.

Thus, Moeen Ali could turn out to be prodigious for Royals in IPL 2019. Given his exceptional batting across the entire batting lineup, Royals could extract a lot from Ali, especially in case of batting collapses. Besides that, he could also create havoc with his off-breaks.

Moeen Ali, while playing for RCB in IPL 2018, scored 65 runs at a strike-rate of 167.39. Besides, he also grabbed three wickets at an economy of 7.26 and a strike-rate of 26.33.