"I was a bit surprised that RR didn't retain him" - Anil Kumble’s big statement on star batter amid Rajasthan’s batting woes in IPL 2025

Former India captain Anil Kumble said he was surprised that the Rajasthan Royals (RR) decided not to retain star batter Jos Buttler ahead of the IPL 2025 season. Notably, Rajasthan have struggled with their batting in the ongoing tournament.

RR have managed to win just two out of their eight matches so far, with six defeats. They failed to chase down nine runs off the final over in both of their last two matches, against Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants, respectively.

Ahead of their upcoming clash against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Thursday, April 24, Anil Kumble said he was surprised that Jos Buttler was not retained by Rajasthan.

Buttler was one of the key players for the franchise. He scored 3055 runs for them from just 83 matches at an average of 41.84 and a strike-rate of 147.79 with seven hundreds and 18 fifties. However, he was released after the 2024 season and bought by the Gujarat Titans at the mega auction.

"Jos Buttler was the key player for the Rajasthan Royals for a while. He was instrumental in single-handedly damaging the opposition. I was a bit surprised that RR didn't retain him," Kumble was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

With four defeats in a row, RR will be under extreme pressure to win when they face RCB.

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"They should have won both the games" - Anil Kumble weighs in on RR's close defeats

As mentioned above, RR failed to close out two games against Delhi Capitals and Lucknow Super Giants, both of which they should have won. With the kind of team they have, Anil Kumble believes that they should have won both games.

"With the team that they have, they should have won both the games. It happens. It's happened to many teams. You will sort of lose from a winning position. I am sure that's something that they will have to assess. Otherwise, they have the team. It's not that they don't have the team to beat any side in this competition. It's just a matter of understanding that you don't leave the charge right till the end. Some teams can win from those situations," he said.

Rajasthan will be challenged by an in-form RCB team. However, despite their struggles, the fact that RCB have lost all of their home games so far this season will give RR some confidence heading into this fixture.