The four players who the Rajasthan Royals plan to keep before the IPL 2025 super auction are Sandeep Sharma, Riyan Parag, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Sanju Samson. India legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal and England white-ball skipper Jos Buttler are not on the retention list, according to ESPNcricinfo. However, the Royals have two right-to-match options if they choose to repurchase them at auction.
With less than 24 hours till the retention deadline passes, it is also said that the Royals are still considering a batsman-wicketkeeper named Dhruv Jurel, who was acquired by the team during the 2022 super auction for INR 20 lakhs. Since then, Jurel has quickly established himself in the regular Royals XI. Earlier this year, he made his Test series debut for India against England. With his daring cameos, Jurel has impressed the Royals leadership group while primarily batting in the bottom order, scoring 347 runs at a strike rate of 151.52 in 22 innings.
The Royals would lose at least INR 47 crore of their INR 120 crore total budget for keeping four players, while the precise sum for each player is still unknown. Since Sandeep hasn’t participated in international cricket for five years, the IPL has reinstated a regulation that allows them to consider him an uncapped player for the forthcoming season. Additionally, if the Royals include Jurel, they will lose at least INR 65 crore from their total purse, leaving them with INR 55 crore at the auction.
Sandeep, Samson, and Parag were crucial to the Royals’ IPL 2024 playoff run. With 531 and 573 runs scored in their respective IPL seasons, Samson and Parag had their most successful batting seasons. After the 2024 season, Parag earned his T20I debut for India. Sandeep had one of his finest IPL seasons in 2024, collecting 13 wickets at an economy rate of 8.18 while bowling mostly in the powerplay and death overs.
When the Royals last advanced to the finals of the IPL in 2022, Buttler and Chahal were the Orange (most runs) and Purple (most wickets) Cap winners. Despite being one of the Royals’ top batsmen, Buttler, 34, had a mediocre 2024 season (359 runs at a strike rate of 141) and has been out since England’s loss to India in the 2024 T20 World Cup semi-finals in June.
At the 2022 auction, Chahal—who currently leads the IPL in wickets taken—was acquired by the Royals for INR 6.5 crore. When the Royals batted first last season, he played almost exclusively as an Impact Player and claimed 18 wickets at an economy rate of 9.41.
The 10 teams have till October 31 to submit their list of retained players to the IPL. Each side may retain a maximum of five capped international players and two uncapped players prior to the massive auction that takes place before the 2025 season. The IPL deducts a minimum amount of INR 18 crore from the auction proceeds for the first player, INR 14 crore for the second, INR 11 crore for the third, INR 18 crore for the fourth, INR 14 crore for the fifth, and INR 4 crore for an uncapped player.
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