We wanted strong Indian core and we got it: Royals owner Badale
Rajasthan Royals succeeded in building a strong Indian core but failing to retain England pacer Jofra Archer, despite his unavailability for the upcoming season, was a disappointment for the IPL franchise, lead owner Manoj Badale said.
Mumbai Indians, looking as a long term investment, bought Archer for Rs 8 crore at the IPL mega auction in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Badale said his franchise approached the auction with a certain aim and largely got what they wanted.
"Our priority this year was to build a strong Indian core, which we have done with the likes of Ashwin, Chahal, Karun, Saini, Devdutt, Prasidh along with Sanju and Yashasvi already retained," Badale said in a media release.
"Our focus was always on having a world-class XI, which is visible in the way we have gone about our business as we tried to utilize the majority of our funds on the starting XI.
"We've tried our best to also go for familiar faces, who we are excited to have at the Royals again. In terms of the international players, we've secured some amazing buys and I'm looking forward to seeing them in pink."
However, Badale said it's obviously disappointing to lose out on a player like Jofra but circumstances dictated the call.
"He's been an integral part of our team for the past few years and grew in stature with us. But if we had gone on to retain him at Rs 9 crores, we wouldn't have been able to build the squad we have now."
"However, he was always on our list even though we knew he was injured for this year. We pushed as hard as we could and went all the way for him, but unfortunately lost out to a team with a larger purse. We wish Jofra the very best in his recovery and for the future."
The Royals spent Rs 89.05 crores to secure the services of 24 players during the two-day auction that concluded on Sunday.
The team is excited to have a pacer like Navdeep Saini and few experienced players like Jimmy Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen and Daryl Mitchell.
"In terms of having a solid base, we are absolutely happy with the purchase of Navdeep Saini. He's an experienced player and has been regularly plying his trade with the Indian team as well, so he compliments the other experienced bowlers."
"I think it was a key phase for us, towards the end, to secure their signings. Jimmy and Nathan are particularly experienced when it comes to the IPL, and we feel they will add a lot of value to our side."
"Rassie and Daryl, as we've seen, can be extremely effective and are really exciting cricketers. So we're really happy to have them all in our team."
