IPL 2018: South African explosive batsman likely to be roped in by Rajasthan Royals

South African explosive batsman Heinrich Klaasen managed to attract a lot of fans with his incredible power hitting against India. The 26-year-old batsman from Pretoria was one of the finds of the season for the Proteas and is likely to feature in the limited overs set up more often than not from now on.

The youngster has also managed to attract an IPL franchise, who are currently devastated by the loss of one of their main players. Rajasthan Royals lost their skipper Steve Smith, who was banned by Cricket Australia for a year following his involvement in the ball-tampering scandal. As reports suggest, Klaasen is being touted as a possible replacement for Smith at the Rajasthan camp.

“That’s how things stand now. It is now up to the BCCI to decide whether to give them the choice of players. The franchise, however, can choose some other names if this doesn’t work out,” a source stated. The source also said that Rajasthan has mentioned their choices to the BCCI and it is up to the elite board to decide their fate now.

Final announcement expected in a day or two

A final announcement on the replacement is expected to arrive in a couple of days from the Rajasthan Royals camp. As it stands, Klaasen is the favourite to get an IPL contract. The Rajasthan Royals reportedly had considered the likes of Joe Root and Moises Henriques to replace Smith, but have zeroed down on the South African swashbuckling batsman.

The Rajasthan side looks fairly well-balanced with a good mixture of youth and experience. Their owners didn’t back off in the auction table, spilling a lot of money on a few wonderful talents. The two most expensive buys in the 2018 Auction were made by Rajasthan Royals, who spent Rs. 12.5 Crore on Ben Stokes and Rs. 11.5 Crore on Jaydev Unadkat.

They also spent a lot of money to earn the services of Sanju Samson, D’Arcy Short, and a few other players. They also roped in Shane Warne as the mentor for this season. Warne was the man who led Rajasthan to title glory in the inaugural season of the IPL.

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