3 players RR should release ahead of IPL 2026 auction ft. Sanju Samson

Rajasthan Royals (RR) can afford to let go of some key players in order to revamp their squad ahead of IPL 2026

Rajasthan Royals will be eyeing for a revamp at the mini-auction before IPL 2026, especially after finishing at the 9th position in the previous edition of the tournament. Apart from promising signs from stand-in skipper Riyan Parag, young Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel, the one-time IPL champions delivered a rather sub-par performance in IPL 2025. While Sanju Samson is all but confirmed to be released, RR could surely do better off by getting rid of some more stars in order to make room for some effective all-rounders and specialist batters in the side for IPL 2026.

Players RR should release ahead of IPL 2026

1. Sanju Samson

Although it isn’t an ideal choice, it has been all but confirmed that Samson will be released before the IPL 2026 auction. His performance in the last edition of the tournament was affected by his injuries, which resulted him playing just 9 out of 14 games. Sanju started his career with RR in 2013, moved to DC for a couple of years in 2016-17 before returing to RR since then. The Kerala keeper-batter has turned out to be one of RR’s most consistent and most reliable batters, having scored 4027 out of 4704 runs that he has scored in his IPL career while playing for RR.

Samson should never be released in the first place. However, given that the team are looking at other options for captaincy in the form of Riyan Parag among others, it would be wise to let the keepr-batter find a better team that could accommodate him in a better manner.

2. Maheesh Theekshana

The Sri Lankan spinner was bagged for Rs 4.40 crore by RR at the IPL 2025 auction after being released by CSK. However, Theekshana managed to take 11 wickets from as many games in the one season that he spent with RR. At an average of 37.27 and and an economy rate of 9.26, he was arguably one of RR’s worst bowlers in the season. RR could rather free up Rs 4.40 crore and use it to target some other bowler who could fit in the side better.

3. Shimron Hetmyer

The West Indies batter simply failed to live up to his reputation of being a destructive finisher for RR in IPL 2025. He managed to score just 239 runs from 14 matches, which includes just one half-century. In fact, he has failed to do well barring in just one season – IPL 2022 where he scored 314 runs. The Caribbean star was retained for a whooping Rs 11 crore by the side before the IPL 2025 mega auction. By getting rid of him, RR could target better finishers in the IPL 2026 mini auction.