The Rajasthan Royals have confirmed that they have signed South African batsman Lhuan-dre Pretorius as a replacement for the injured Nitish Rana for the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season. Pretorius will be joining RR at his base price of Rs 30 Lakh. Rana managed 11 games for RR this season, scoring 217 runs at an average of 21.70; his strike rate was just about 162. He has two half-centuries, with a career-best of 81 against Chennai Super Kings (CSK).
This is a big blow for RR after Rana’s injury. The Rajasthan Royals are placed ninth in the points table with three wins and nine losses for six points. They are out of playoff contention, and the team will be looking at Pretorius to provide the spark in the remaining matches.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius replaces Nitish Rana
Pretorius has featured in 33 T20s, where he has scored 911 runs at an average of 27.60, a batting strike rate of 147.17, and four fifty-plus scores. His best score is 97. He came into the limelight in the ICC U19 World Cup last year, in which he was the highest run scorer for South Africa with a total of 287 at the staggering average of 57.40, a strike rate of 94.09, and three half centuries to his credit. His experience from the SA20 league, where he has been playing for Paarl Royals, which is RR’s sister team, will also come in handy.
In the same year, in the course of the SA20 tournament, Pretorius was among the highest run scorers with 397 runs in 12 innings at an average of 33.08, which included 3 fifties, one of which was a high of 97 and he had a strike rate of 166.8. From having a good build and having played highly competitive cricket, Pretorius will be looking forward to making substantial contributions for RR in IPL.
The next game of the RR team will be with Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at this venue on May 12. That is why, with Pretorius in their ranks, RR will be hoping to finish their current season strong, even though they are out of playoff contention. The team will be looking to Pretorius to add a streak of originality and some new power to the team’s batting power.
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