Rajasthan Royals (RR) had a very disappointing Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. The team was placed ninth and could only manage to gather eight points in 14 games. The franchise has a monumental task ahead for the following season, particularly in determining who will be included in the list of retained players for Rajasthan Royals 2026, as the retention deadline is near.
The IPL 2025 saw them retaining six players, out of which five belonged to the Indian core. They are likely to retain most of them for the next season since they contributed a lot to the team last season. Its captain Sanju Samson is the only one who might leave the company since the reports indicate he has traded with Chennai Super Kings, thereby making him a candidate for the RR released players 2026 list. Meanwhile, others including some of the new signings are likely to stay before the next season and will be on the RR retention list.
Now, we need to explore the core Indian domestic players who may very well be the Rajasthan Royals retained players 2026.
Players The Rajasthan Royals Will Retain Ahead of IPL 2026
Yashasvi Jaiswal
Yashasvi Jaiswal is one of the very few names who would most likely be included in the list of retained players for the Rajasthan Royals. He was bought for INR 18 crore in the IPL 2025 auction. Since the day of his debut, Yashasvi Jaiswal has remained the sole player for the Royals. So far, he has played 67 times and has scored 2,166 runs with an average of 34.38 and a strike rate of 152.85. He has two centuries and fifteen half-centuries to his credit.
During IPL 2025, Yashasvi Jaiswal with his fantastic skill scored 559 runs in 14 matches with an average of 44 and a strike rate of 159.71 including six half-centuries. He was their highest scorer throughout the season and is expected to be one of the names in the RR retention list.
Vaibhav Suryavanshi
Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the young sensation at the age of just 14 years, is expected to be one of the many choices the Rajasthan Royals will have in the list of players that are going to be kept. He made an unforgettable debut in IPL 2025—besides being bought for INR 1.10 crores in the auction—by playing seven matches and scoring 252 runs with an average of 36 and a strike rate of 206.55. His innings included one hundred and one fifty.
Among these, the century he scored was the most astonishing one as he smashed 35 balls—setting the record for the second fastest in IPL and the fastest by an Indian player. Hence, with these impressive stats, he is most probably going to be in the RR retention list and if he is, he could be getting more matches next season, provided Sanju Samson is traded to CSK.
Riyan Parag
Riyan Parag was the one retained by the Rajasthan Royals for INR 14 crores before the commencement of the IPL 2025 auction. The young player appeared in 14 matches and amassed 393 runs during the IPL with 32.75 as average and 166.52 as the strike rate. With his consistent performance, Riyan Parag is definitely going to be a part of the 2026 Rajasthan Royals retained players list.
He took the team to victory in the absence of Sanju Samson due to injury at the beginning of the season and even during the latter part of the tournament when he was under the captaincy of Sanju. Like Yashasvi, Riyan has been RR’s IPL representative all the while. In 84 matches, he has racked up 1,566 runs in 72 innings, comprising two fifties. His IPL 2024 was his best season as he cracked up 573 runs in 14 innings. He is going to be the next captain as he will be among the RRs retention list.
Dhruv Jurel
RR gave a huge sum of INR 14 crores for Dhruv Jurel in order to retain him before the IPL 2025 auction. Skipper Sanju Samson’s expected transfer to CSK club, leaves the door open for Jurel who is one of the candidates to be included in the RR’s retention list for 2026.
In IPL 2025, he participated in 14 matches and amassed a total of 333 runs with an average of 37 and a strike rate of 156.33; among these, were two fifties as well. Jurel has also been a part of Rajasthan Royals since his first appearance. As for the Indian domestic talent pool, the franchise retained him last season and he is anticipated once again in the RR retention list.
Sandeep Sharma
Rajasthan Royals has been the team for Sandeep Sharma in the last few IPL seasons. They kept him for INR 4 crore before the IPL 2025 auction. Over the past three seasons, he has taken 32 wickets in 32 innings. In IPL 2025, he claimed nine wickets in 10 innings with a bowling average of 9.89.
His main role in RR has been that of a death-over bowler and he has been quite effective in that capacity. In 2023 and 2024, his economy rates were 8.60 and 8.18, respectively. Bowling in the death and maintaining economy under 10 is a great effort. Thus, Sandeep Sharma’s few wickets are not an indication of his inconsistency in the role, but of the opposite; he has been consistent and performed well, hence he is likely to be in the RR retention list 2026 and not in the RR released players 2026 list.
