Samson, Jaiswal, Parag and Sandeep set to be retained by Rajasthan Royals

Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag and Sandeep Sharma are the four players set to be retained by Rajasthan Royals ahead of the IPL 2025 mega auction. ESPNcricinfo has learned that England's white-ball captain Jos Buttler and India legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal are not part of the retention list, but Royals can use their two right-to-match options if they want to buy them back at the auction.

It is also understood that another player Royals are still deliberating on, with less than 24 hours to go before the retention deadline expires, is wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, who was signed by the franchise at the 2022 mega auction for INR 20 lakhs. Since then, Jurel has fast-tracked himself into the regular Royals XI and made his India debut in the Test series against England earlier this year. At Royals, Jurel has mainly batted in the lower order (in 22 innings, Jurel has made 347 runs at a strike rate of 151.52), impressing the Royals leadership group with enterprising cameos.

While the specific amount for each player is not yet known, Royals will lose at least INR 47 crore from their overall purse of INR 120 crore for retaining four players. According to a rule brought back by the IPL for the upcoming season, Sandeep qualifies as an uncapped player because he hasn't played international cricket for five years. And in case Jurel is also included, Royals will lose at least INR 65 crore from their overall purse, leaving them INR 55 crore at the auction.

Samson, Parag and Sandeep were integral to Royals making the play-offs in IPL 2024. Samson and Parag had their most prolific IPL seasons with the bat, scoring 531 and 573 runs respectively, and Parag made his T20I debut for India following the 2024 season. Sandeep, who was signed by Royals for INR 50 lakh (then USD 60,000 approx) in the 2023 auction, had one of his best IPL seasons in 2024, taking 13 wickets with an economy rate of 8.18 while bowling predominantly in the powerplay and death overs. While Jaiswal did not have as good a season in 2024 (435 runs at a strike rate of 152) as he did in 2023 (625 runs at a strike rate of 163.6), the 22-year-old opener is one of the leading batters in the country and a long-term prospect for the franchise.

Buttler and Chahal were the Orange (most runs) and Purple (most wickets) Cap winners in IPL 2022, the last time Royals made the finals. Though Buttler, 34, has been one of Royals' leading batters, he had a middling season in 2024 - 359 runs at a strike rate of 141 - and has been sidelined by injury since England's defeat to India in the semi-finals of the 2024 T20 World Cup in June.

Chahal, currently the highest wicket-taker in the IPL, was signed by Royals for INR 6.5 crore at the 2022 auction. He took 18 wickets last season with an economy rate of 9.41 and played almost exclusively as an Impact Player when Royals batted first.

October 31 is the deadline by which the ten franchises have to submit their list of retained players to the IPL. The teams have been allowed to retain up to six players each ahead of the mega auction before the 2025 season, of which a maximum of five can be capped internationals and two can be uncapped players. While the IPL has set minimum deductions from the auction purse for each player retained - INR 18 crore for the first player, INR 14 crore for the second, INR 11 crore for the third, INR 18 crore for the fourth, INR 14 crore for the fifth, and INR 4 crore for an uncapped player - the franchises are free to pay more or less than those amounts to their retained players.