Rajasthan looking to sign-up players during loan window

Rajasthan looking to sign-up players during loan window

The Rajasthan Royals (RR) have officially written to the other Indian Premier League (IPL) franchises asking for player loans. Thus far, the Royals are the most affected franchise due to player exodus because of various reasons, one being the deteriorating situation of Covid-19 in India.

Currently, the Royals are left with only four overseas players - Jos Buttler, Chris Morris, David Miller and Mustafizur Rahman. They're looking to include more foreign players in their squad with more than 60% of games yet to be played in the tournament.

The men in pink have lost top-flight players like Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Liam Livingstone and Andrew Tye. They've been able to win only two games so far and have faced three losses as well. 

The IPL playing conditions say that the loan window will kick off at 9 am IST on the day following the 20th league match scheduled for the season and will end at 12pm IST on the day following the 56th league match scheduled for the season. 

Therefore, it can be concluded that the window was activated on 9 am April 26 (Monday) after the double-header on Sunday night.

One of the CEOs from another franchise has confirmed that they’ve received a request from the management of Rajasthan Royals asking for player loans.

"We have received a request from them a couple of days ago and we have not decided on it. The team management will take a call. We will consider if we can loan them a player or two from our surpluses" confirmed a CEO from another franchise.

The biggest share-holder in the RR franchise Manoj Badale did not reply to a message from Cricbuzz till the publication of the news.

As per the rules of IPL, a player can only be loaned to another franchise if he has played in the playing XI or as a concussion replacement in less than two matches at the start of the loan period.

Also, a player can be loaned only once in the entire season and he cannot play against his home franchise. A franchise cannot loan more than three of its players to the same team during the season.