Rajasthan Royals pick Lhuan-dre Pretorius for the injured Nitish Rana

Rajasthan Royals (RR) have named Lhuan-dre Pretorius as a replacement for Nitish Rana, who has been ruled out of the remainder of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 due to injury. South Africa’s Lhuan-dre Pretorius has played 33 T20s and scored 911 runs with a highest score of 97. He will join RR for his base price of INR 30 Lakh.

Notably, Lhuan-dre Pretorius is a part of the Rajasthan Royals franchise in the SA20 League. The 19-year-old had an outstanding season of SA20 2025 with Paarl Royals, where he scored a total of 397 runs with an average of 33.08 and a strike rate of 166.80, including 3 half-centuries.

Overall, the top-order batter has played a total of 33 T20s, scoring 911 runs with an average of 27.60 and a strike rate of 147.17. He is a good replacement for the injured Nitish Rana.

Nitish Rana has struggled with consistency this season. In 11 matches, the left-handed batter has scored a total of 217 runs, with 81 of those coming in a single innings against CSK.

Rajasthan Royals are currently standing at the 9th position in the points table with just three wins in 12 matches, with a total of 6 points. The team is already out of the playoff race, but they will aim to finish the season on a high also aim to try new players in upcoming matches to prepare the squad for next season.

Rajasthan Royals is scheduled to play two more matches in IPL 2025, against Chennai Super Kings on May 12 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai, followed by their final league game against Punjab Kings on May 16 in the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur.

RR’s full squad

Sanju Samson, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Kunal Rathore, Shimron Hetmyer, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Yudhvir Singh, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kwena Maphaka, Ashok Sharma, Sandeep Sharma