IPL 2020 Auction: 3 areas of concern for RR and who they should target

#2 Big-hitting middle-order batsman

Will Deepak Hooda make his way back to RR?

Having let go of Rahul Tripathi ahead of the player auctions, Rajasthan Royals will now need to fill a slot in the middle order, and with Buttler, Smith, Stokes and Archer occupying the four foreign slots, RR might want to target an Indian middle-order batsman who they can back to feature in the playing XI for the entirety of the tournament.

One good option for RR could be to invest faith in the experience of Yusuf Pathan, who has churned out quite a few match-winning knocks in the middle order. What's more, given that RR coach Shane Warne has played with Pathan before, the Australian could make the most use of Pathan's strengths and play him as a floater.

Yet, Pathan hasn't played too much in the recent past and RR might want to try out a youngster such as Jharkand's Virat Singh, who finished with 343 runs from 10 matches at a strike rate of just above 142 or bring in the lanky Deepak Hooda, who could be the perfect fit at No.5.

However, one must not forget that RR will need a backup foreign big-hitter in case one of Buttler, Smith or Stokes fail to deliver, and big names such as David Miller or Shimron Hetmyer could be valuable options.