We are just a few hours away from getting the official announcements, but a groundbreaking development has come our way. The Rajasthan Royals have finalised their retention list ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction, and some big names are set to stay. Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, and Sandeep Sharma have made the cut, but there’s uncertainty surrounding Dhruv Jurel’s future.
Samson-Jaiswal stay, along with Parag!
According to ESPNcricinfo, England’s white-ball captain Jos Buttler and India leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal are not part of the retention list. However, Royals can utilize their two right-to-match options to buy them back at the IPL 2025 mega auction. Having said that, no one can really guarantee anything when a player’s name is called out during an auction. Hence, it would be fortunate for RR if they bought back anyone of Buttler and Chahal.
Samson, Parag, and Sandeep played pivotal roles in the Royals’ playoff run in IPL 2024. Samson and Parag had their most prolific seasons, scoring 531 and 573 runs, respectively. Parag even made his T20I debut for India following the 2024 season. Jaiswal, on the other hand, is one of the most destructive openers in world cricket currently, irrespective of the format. Had he entered the IPL auction table, Jaiswal would’ve certainly garnered bid over Rs 20 crore.
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However, RR might retain him at a decent fee of Rs 14 crore, similar to what SRH paid for Abhishek Sharma. Since IPL 2023, Jaiswal has hit 1,060 runs at an amazing SR of above 160 and at an average close to 40. These are absolute surreal numbers for a talent only 22 years old. Meanwhile, RR looked to have exercised the new uncapped player rule by taking a claim on Sandeep Sharma. Sandeep, an IPL veteran, took 13 wickets with an economy rate of 8.18, bowling predominantly in powerplay and death overs.
Dhruv Jurel still not certain
Dhruv Jurel’s fate hangs in the balance, with less than 24 hours left before the retention deadline. The wicketkeeper-batter has impressed Royals’ management with his enterprising knocks, scoring 347 runs at a strike rate of 151.52 in 22 innings. The retention value is not yet finalised between Jurel and the franchise and hence the delay. It remains to be seen if he finds a place in RR’s official retention that comes out at 5 pm IST on October 31.
RR Retention list (as per reports)
- Sanju Samson
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Riyan Parag
- Sandeep Sharma (uncapped)
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