Rajasthan Royals announce Nitish Rana's replacement for remainder of IPL 2025, South Africa uncapped star Lhuan-dre Pretorius joins squad ahead of CSK clash

Rajasthan Royals (RR) announced Lhuan-dre Pretorius as a replacement for Nitish Ran,a who has been ruled out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. During RR's last clash against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), stand-in captain Riyan Parag revealed that Nitish is dealing with an injury.

Nitish Rana's replacement, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, got a lot of attention during the recent SA20 for his power-hitting skills. He played 33 T20s and scored 911 runs with a highest score of 97, which came on his debut for the SA20 team Paarl Royals earlier this year. The Paarl team in SA20 is owned by the owners of RR as well. Pretorius will join Rajasthan for his base price of Rs 30 lakh. Pretorius was close to smashing a century on his debut match, but Marco Jensen dismissed him on 97 runs against the Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

ALSO READ: 'I'm actually shocked...': India's Border-Gavaskar Trophy-winning captain reacts as Rohit Sharma announces Test retirement, Watch VIDEO

"Rajasthan Royals (RR) have named Lhuan-dre Pretorius as a replacement for Nitish Rana, who has been ruled out of the remainder of TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 due to injury. South Africa's Lhuan-dre Pretorius has played 33 T20s and scored 911 runs with a highest score of 97. He will join RR for his base price of INR 30 Lakh," a statement on iplt20.com read.

ALSO READ: Not Shubman Gill, Ex-India head coach wants this veteran star to lead India in red-ball after Rohit Sharma's Test retirement

On the other hand, Nitish Rana made 217 runs at a strike rate of 161.94 in IPL 2025, with his highest score being 81. RR are already eliminated from the playoffs race of the IPL 2025.

The Rajasthan-based franchise's remaining two matches are against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Punjab Kings (PBKS).