IPL 2019: Wicket-keeping candidates and probable keepers for each team
The 2019 IPL Auction is over and all the teams have churned out a competitive combination for the forthcoming edition of the tournament. This time around, the auction happened to be an unusual one as a good number of players were bought by the franchises who released them a few days back before the retention deadlines.
In the process of churning out a competitive team, plenty of franchises went ahead and acquired quite a few back-ups as the English, South African and Australian players would be leaving early in a bid to prepare for the World Cup. As a result, a few franchises also opted in for the services of backup wicket-keepers who will be serving them after their main-stream wicket-keepers' flight back home.
Thus, in this article, we will have a look at the possible wicket-keeping candidates and the probable wicket-keepers for each franchise in IPL 2019.
Candidates for Rajasthan Royals: Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, and Prashant Chopra
Rajasthan Royals looks a decently balanced side when it comes to wicket-keeping. They have the likes of Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson who can do the justice to the role. Besides, they also have Prashant Chopra who can come handy too if the need be.
Rajasthan Royals persisted with Jos Buttler as their wicket-keeping candidate for IPL 2018. Buttler, who is an experienced keeper in the English team in the shorter formats, did a splendid job for Royals behind the stumps. He not only did a decent job behind the stumps but also excelled with the willow for the Royals in the eleventh edition of the league.
Alongside Buttler, the other two options that Royals will have are Samson and Chopra. Samson has donned the wicket-keeping gloves for Royals in the past and might do the needful in this year as well. He would be the automatic selection for the role of after Buttler flight back home - pending English board's rules for players in the 2019 WC plans.
Coming to Chopra, he is least likely to get the role after Buttler's tenure. The reason being Samson has the experience as he has done it in the past. In addition to that, Sanju will be definite in Royals' playing XI while Chopra might warm the bench for a considerable part of the league.
Thus, out of three wicket-keeping candidates, Buttler and Samson will be the most obvious ones with the latter replacing the former after former's way back home.
Wicket-keeper for IPL 2019: Jos Buttler (Sanju Samson after Jos Buttler's departure)