"Sanju had a big role to play in these retentions" - Rahul Dravid on RR's final retention list ahead of IPL 2025 auction

Rajasthan Royals (RR) head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed skipper Sanju Samson had a massive role in the franchise's final list of retained players ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. RR retained Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal at top dollar at ₹18 crore each.

They also retained young talents Dhruv Jurel and Riyan Parag at ₹14 crore each and bought Shimron Hetmyer's services at ₹11 crore. Furthermore, RR exhausted all their retention options by buying Sandeep Sharma for ₹4 crore as part of the Uncapped Player category.

Despite the six retentions, RR had to let go of several regulars like Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, and Jos Buttler.

Speaking to the media following RR's announcement of their retention list, Dravid was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times:

"Sanju had a big role to play in these retentions. He faced a lot of difficulty, too. As a captain, he has build a lot of relationships with these players. We are very sad for the players we couldn't retain, and Sanju has worked with these players for 5-6 years now."

"He has had balanced views on these retentions. He has taken the trouble to understand the dynamics of it, charting out the pros and cons. He has discussed a lot with us on this, and it wasn't an easy decision. We had a lot of debates, but in the end, we are happy with the team that we have and we wanted to retain as many as possible," he added.

Under Samson, RR have been among the most consistent sides over the last three IPL seasons with a runners-up and third-place finish in 2022 and 2024, respectively.

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RR let go of their top three leading wicket-takers from IPL 2024

Rajasthan Royals v Mumbai Indians - Source: Getty

It is not often a franchise let go of their top three wicket-takers from the previous season, yet, RR did just that ahead of the 2025 IPL auction.

Going batting-heaving in their retentions, RR released Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Trent Boult. The trio finished with 19, 18, and 16 wickets, respectively, in IPL 2024 to lead the side's bowling ranks.

They also let go of arguably their best all-rounder in Ravichandran Ashwin, who picked up nine wickets and averaged over 14 with the bat last season.

RR also did not retain their talisman Jos Buttler after the English wicketkeeper had been an integral part of the franchise since 2018. Buttler was their fourth-leading run-scorer in IPL 2024 with 359 runs at an average of almost 40 and a strike rate of 140.78.