RR have brought in Lhuan-dre Pretorius to join their team as a substitute for Nitish Rana, who unfortunately sustained an injury that will prevent him from participating in the remainder of IPL 2025. The deal with the South African player is worth INR 30 lakh.
RR has recently signed on Nandre Burger to replace the injured Sandeep Sharma. This is not unfamiliar territory for Burger, as he was a part of the RR team in the previous season as well. The price tag for his return is set at INR 3.5 crore. Sandeep sustained a finger injury while trying to block a shot from Shubman Gill during a match against Gujarat Titans in Jaipur. Despite playing only ten games this season, Sandeep managed to take nine wickets with an economy rate of 9.89.
Pretorius, 19, is a talented left-hand opening batter and wicketkeeper. Although he has not yet played for the national team, he excelled at SA20 2025 where he scored 397 runs in 12 matches with an impressive strike rate of 166.80. One of his standout performances was a 51-ball 97 while playing for Paarl Royals against Sunrisers Eastern Cape. Following his successful performance at SA20, he was offered his first county stint with Hampshire in the Vitality Blast tournament.
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In 2024, he topped the list for South Africa’s runs at the Under-19 World Cup.
In terms of Rana’s contribution to RR this season, he delivered two impressive performances. One was a 36-ball 81 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Guwahati, and the other was a 51 off 28 against Delhi Capitals (DC) in Delhi. Unfortunately, both RR and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) have been eliminated from the tournament, alongside CSK. So far in the 2025 season, RR has only managed to secure three wins out of twelve matches, placing them at ninth among the ten teams.
Their final games will take place in Chennai against CSK on May 12 and in Jaipur against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on May 16.
