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Rajasthan Royals retained six players ahead of IPL 2025 mega auctions but parted ways with R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, and Jos Buttler.
RR release R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult and Jos Buttler ahead of IPL 2025 mega auctions. (Picture Credit: Sportzpics)
Rajasthan Royals retained as many as six players from the IPL 2024 squad ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auctions, which are expected to take place in the last week of November. While the Jaipur-based franchise paid Rs 18 crores each for Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel and Riyan Parag were retained for Rs 14 crores each, and West Indies batter Shimron Hetmyer will pocket Rs 11 crore. In addition to that, Sandeep Sharma was retained as an uncapped player for Rs 4 crore. Despite retaining as many as six players, RR let go Jos Buttler, R. Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Trent Boult.
The decision to retain Hetmyer and Jurel over the likes of Buttler, Boult, and Chahal came as a surprise for fans. But RR’s new head coach, Rahul Dravid, has now explained the reason behind the team’s retention choices.
According to Dravid, who joined the RR setup after his stint with the Indian team as head coach came to an end in June 2024, captain Samson played a big role in finalising the final list of retained players. He said that it was difficult for the Kerala-based wicketkeeper-batter to let go of certain players because he shared the dressing room with them for many years.
“Sanju had a big role to play in these retentions. He faced a lot of difficulty, too. As a captain, he has built a lot of relationships with these players. We are very sad for the players we couldn’t retain, and Sanju has worked with these players for 5-6 years now,” Dravid was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times after the retention list was announced.
“He has had balanced views on these retentions. He has taken the trouble to understand the dynamics of it, charting out the pros and cons. He has discussed a lot with us on this, and it wasn’t an easy decision. We had a lot of debates, but in the end, we are happy with the team that we have, and we wanted to retain as many as possible,” he added.
Chahal, who joined RR in IPL 2022 mega auctions, is the all-time leading wicket-taker in IPL history, and in the last three seasons, he has dismissed more than 60 batters for RR and also won the Purple Cap in IPL 2022. On the other hand, Buttler is RR’s second-leading run scorer in IPL history.
