“A player does not become bad because of a year going bad” – Aakash Chopra picks Yashasvi Jaiswal among players Rajasthan Royals should retain

Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra wants Rajasthan Royals to retain Yashasvi Jaiswal ahead of IPL 2025 mega auctions. Jaiswal scored 435 runs in 14 innings in IPL 2024 at an average of 31.07 and a strike rate of 155.91.

Before the IPL, the left-hander scored 712 runs in five Test matches against England. Meanwhile, Jaiswal scored 625 runs in 14 matches in IPL 2023 at an impressive average of 48.08 and a strike rate of 163.61.

Chopra wants RR to firstly retain their captain Sanju Samson. Samson scored 531 runs in 15 innings at an average of 48.27 and a strike rate of 153.46, with five half-centuries. Thus, he played a key role in taking RR to the playoffs as he led from the front.

“The first will be the captain – Sanju Samson. Firstly, he is a good captain. (Ravichandran) Ashwin was saying the other day – ‘I don’t know where he has learned this art but he is a very good captain’. From wherever he might have learned, since he is captaining well, you want to retain him,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.

“The second, I feel you will have to keep Yashasvi Jaiswal. A player does not become bad because of a year going bad. He is a long-term investment. You retained him when he was uncapped, so you should 100% retain him now,” the former India opener added.

The renowned commentator picked Jos Buttler as his third retention for RR. Buttler scored 359 runs in 11 matches of IPL 2024 at an average of 39.89 and a blistering strike rate of 140.78. Furthermore, Chopra feels RR can retain either Riyan Parag or Yuzvendra Chahal.

The right-hander from Assam scored 573 runs in 14 innings at an average of 52.09 and a strike rate of 149.21 in IPL 2024 whereas Chahal picked 18 wickets in 15 matches.

“Jos Buttler will be one player I will retain. So you can assume he is my third retention. Now one between Riyan Parag and Yuzvendra Chahal. I will be very tempted to retain Riyan Parag because they have invested a lot in Riyan Parag. I can acquire Yuzi Chahal using the ‘Right to Match’ card, or else the other way around,” he elaborated.

Chopra wants RR to hold on to Dhruv Jurel through Right to Match card.

“If I get a chance to use another ‘Right to Match’ card, I will go with Dhruv Jurel because he is the kind of player you can invest in. In the future, he can go ahead of Riyan Parag because I think he is more ready. He hasn’t got too many opportunities but I would love to hold on to him,” Chopra explained.