Former India cricketer Robin Uthappa slammed the Rajasthan Royals (RR) for releasing star players from their squad ahead of the mega-auction of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Sanju Samson-led RR are have recently lost their third consecutive game of the ongoing season against Gujarat Titans by 58 runs.
After a humiliating loss against GT, Robin Uthappa, who was part of Chennai Super Kings' (CSK) IPL winning squad, questioned RR's auction strategy, asking why they released star players such as Jos Buttler, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravichandran Ashwin, amongst others. RR used all of their six slots of retention ahead of the mega auction, as they retained Sanju Samson (18 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (18 crore), Riyan Parag (14 crore), Dhruv Jurel (14 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (11 crore), and Sandeep Sharma (4 crore).
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“And I think that's where RR got it wrong in the in the auctions didn't they. I think the fact that they let the likes of Jos Butler go, Ashwin go, Yuzi Chahal go, they just left too many holes. Like today, if Shimron Hetmyer gets injured, they don't have a replacement for him, which makes us ask that question that how does that actually work for them,” said Uthappa on Star Sports.
Shane Watson also recalled the camaraderie between Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler and expressed his disbelief at RR's decision to release him before the mega-auction.
“The connection that Sanju has as a leader with Jos Butler really does have a huge influence in and around the group as well. So there are other factors around not just your cricket performance on the field that add so much value, which is why it just continues to blow me away that the Rajasthan Royals didn't retain him,” he added.
Buttler joined RR in 2018 and played a big role in their run to the final in the 2022 season. He scored 863 runs from 17 innings. He further played several crucial knocks over the next two seasons but was surprisingly not retained ahead of the auction. In the mega-auction, Buttler was sold for a whopping Rs 15.75 crore to the Gujarat Titans.
RR's performance in IPL 2025
RR played five matches in IPL 2025 so far, where Riyan Parag led the franchise in the first three matches of the tournament, and the side managed to win just two matches out of five outings. RR are currently seventh in the points table tally.