Former India player Aakash Chopra suggests that finding suitable replacements will pose a problem for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the future Indian Premier League due to their lost star players. The players acquired by the team this year fall well short of Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult and Jos Buttler in his opinion, says Aakash Chopra.
Prior to the IPL 2025 auction, RR paid a total of ₹79 crore to retain Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, and Sandeep Sharma. In order to put together a 20-man squad, they purchased 14 additional players at the massive auction last November for ₹40.70 crore.
The former India opener stated in a video posted to his YouTube channel, “Aakash Chopra,” that the Rajasthan Royals’ IPL 2025 team is noticeably worse than their roster from the previous season.
“They lost four players in the auction. They decided not to retain Buttler, and Boult, Chahal and Ashwin went apart from him. When so many such kinds of players leave, you ask how you would replace them. The replacements aren’t even close to them.”
Aakash Chopra
Shimron Hetmyer is the only batter from abroad in the Royals’ lineup, Chopra said.
“It’s a completely Indian batting lineup (apart from Shimron Hetmyer). You had retained your entire batting lineup. You didn’t make any additions. You added just Nitish Rana and you didn’t pick any overseas batter. So an entire Indian batting lineup and no course correction or addition in the auction, slightly surprising from my point of view.”
Aakash Chopra
The Rajasthan Royals’ IPL 2025 squad only includes six foreign players. In addition to keeping Hetmyer, they purchased Kawena Maphaka (₹1.50 crore), Fazalhaq Farooqi (₹2 crore), Wanindu Hasaranga (₹5.25 crore), Jofra Archer (₹12.50 crore), and Maheesh Theekshana (₹4.40 crore) at the auction.
“In a Similar Position Again” – Aakash Chopra on RR’s Lack of Quality All-Rounder for IPL 2025
The lack of a good all-round player could be another obstacle for the Rajasthan Royals in the 2025 Indian Premier League, according to Aakash Chopra in the same video.
“Another thing that was troubling me last year was that every team used to have an extra batter and bowler after the Impact Player rule was introduced as they had one or two all-rounders, but this team did not have any. It seemed like they were playing with six batters and five bowlers. They find themselves in a similar position again.”
Aakash Chopra
The former cricket player who is now an expert noted that Wanindu Hasaranga hasn’t yet demonstrated his abilities in the IPL with the bat.
“I am surprised how that happened after a mega auction. You are considering Wanindu Hasaranga as an all-rounder. He is not really an all-rounder at the IPL level yet. He might have a great season this time. However, thus far he has done very well with the ball from time to time, but as a batter, he has not fired.”
Aakash Chopra
The absence of an Indian spinner besides Kumar Kartikeya, according to Aakash Chopra, would pose a problem for the Rajasthan Royals in the 2025 Indian Premier League. He went on to say that the team would also be too reliant on Jofra Archer for seam bowling, which would be made worse by the England pacer’s recent unreliability.
