IPL 2020: Rajasthan Royals announce appointment of spin consultant; leg-spinner is back

Bengaluru: New Zealand leg-spinner Ish Sodhi has been appointed as the spin consultant of Rajasthan Royals for this year's Indian Premier League (IPL).

On Thursday (January 2), the franchise took to its official Twitter account to announce the new appointment.

Also read: Full list of players sold at IPL 2020 auction

Rajasthan, who won the inaugural edition of IPL in 2008, wrote with a picture of Sodhi, "Guess who’s back, back again. Sodhi’s back, tell a friend. Say hello to the Royals’ spin consultant, @ish_sodhi #HallaBol #RoyalsFamily."

The 27-year-old Sodhi has previously played for Rajasthan. At the international level, he has featured in 17 Tests, 31 ODIs and 40 T20Is.

During the last month’s players auction in Kolkata, Rajasthan bought 11 players. They have a squad of 25 members. Robin Uthappa and Jaydev Unadkat were the costliest buys at the auction with Rs 3 crore each.

"I am delighted to be taking on this new challenge at Rajasthan Royals with this dual role. Having played for two seasons for the Royals, I have formed a great level of understanding with all the people involved with the franchise, and they have always been very supportive of me. Therefore, I did not have to think twice when this opportunity was offered to me by the Royals' management. I love this franchise and want to help us win the IPL this year," Sodhi said in a statement.

"It is a fascinating opportunity for me, to be involved in the coaching staff at such a young age, while also supporting and learning about the operations of the business. I am very much looking forward to developing my coaching skills alongside Sairaj and learning from Jake on business operations," he added.

Here is the full squad of Rajasthan Royals

Squad strength: 25 (8 overseas)

Purse remaining: Rs 14.95 crore

Retained/Traded in (14)

1. Steve Smith (Rs 12.50 crore) (Australia) — Batsman

2. Ankit Rajpoot (Traded from Kings XI Punjab) (Rs 30 lakh) — Paceman

3. Ben Stokes (Rs 12.50 crore) (England) — All-rounder

4. Jofra Archer (Rs 7.20 crore) (England) — Paceman

5. Jos Buttler (Rs 4.40 crore) (England) — Wicketkeeper

6. Mahipal Lomror (Rs 20 lakh) — All-rounder

7. Manan Vohra (Rs 20 lakh) — Batsman

8. Mayank Markande (Traded from Mumbai Indians) (Rs 2 crore) — Spinner

9. Rahul Tewatia (Traded from Delhi Capitals) (Rs 3 crore) — All-rounder

10. Riyan Parag (Rs 20 lakh) — Batsman

11. Sanju Samson (Rs 8 crore) — Wicketkeeper

12. Shashank Singh (Rs 30 lakh) — Batsman

13. Shreyas Gopal (Rs 20 lakh) — Spinner

14. Varun Aaron (Rs 2.40 crore) — Paceman

Bought at IPL 2020 auction (11)

15. Robin Uthappa (Rs 3 crore) — Batsman

16. Jaydev Unadkat (Rs 3 crore) — Paceman

17. Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rs 2.40 crore) — Batsman

18. Kartik Tyagi (Rs 1.30 crore) — Paceman

19. Tom Curran (Rs 1 crore) — All-rounder

20. Andrew Tye (Rs 1 crore) — Paceman

21. Anuj Rawat (Rs 80 lakh) — Wicketkeeper

22. David Miller (Rs 75 lakh) — Batsman

23. Oshane Thomas (Rs 50 lakh) — Paceman

24. Aniruddha Joshi (Rs 20 lakh) — All-rounder

25. Akash Singh (Rs 20 lakh) — Paceman