Star Rajasthan Royals (RR) player Nitish Rana has been ruled out of the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. The IPL website confirmed the news that the southpaw has been injured and is thus replaced by a South African talent, Lhuan-dre Pretorius.
RR, who have already been knocked out of the IPL 2025, have missed their skipper Sanju Samson for the majority of the season, while Sandeep Sharma was also ruled out of the tournament earlier. Now, Rana goes as well, who also sat out in RR’s last game against KKR.
Who is Lhuan-dre Pretorius?
So, another stylish left-handed opener has been added to the Rajasthan team for IPL 2025. They already have Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryvanshi and for RR to have Pretorius is an interesting move. As stated above, he’s already part of the Royals family, having been in the Paarl Royals’ setup at the SA20.
It was at SA20 2025 when Pretorius gained huge traction among cricket fans. Playing his first-ever elite franchise tournament, the southpaw made an instant impact and ended up as the highest run-getter of the tournament with 397 runs at a magnificent strike rate of 166.81.
The six that Pretorious hit to Trent Boult in that tournament still lives rent-free in many fans’ minds. You can watch that six, courtesy of Pretorious’ wrist work below. Apparently, Nitish Rana is nursing a calf injury. It was only yesterday when two other franchises, DC and RCB, named replacements too. While RCB brought in Mayank Agarwal for Devdutt Padikkal, Delhi Capitals roped in Sediqullah Atal for Harry Brook.
Lhuan-dre Pretorius SA20 2025 Stats
- Runs: 397
- Innings: 12
- Average: 33.08
- Strike Rate: 166.81
LHUAN DRE-PRETORIUS REPLACES NITISH RANA IN RR FOR IPL 2025.
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 8, 2025
The post Huge blow to RR! Nitish Rana ruled out of IPL 2025; Lhuan-dre Pretorius comes in as replacement appeared first on Inside Sport India.