"You will wish a lot to retain Riyan Parag" - Aakash Chopra on Rajasthan Royals' potential retentions ahead of IPL 2025 auction

Aakash Chopra reckons the Rajasthan Royals (RR) might desperately want to retain Riyan Parag ahead of the IPL 2025 auction. However, he opined that the Assam all-rounder shouldn't be retained as the fourth capped player for ₹18 crore.

The Royals reached the IPL 2024 playoffs and were defeated by the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Qualifier 2 after beating the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the Eliminator. With 573 runs at a strike rate of 149.21 in 14 innings, Parag was their highest run-scorer this season.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra noted that Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal will likely be the Rajasthan Royals' top three retentions. He urged the franchise not to retain Parag as their fourth capped player.

"Their top three retentions should be Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal. You can decide one, two and three - it really doesn't make a difference, because whether you leave out Yashasvi, Sanju or Jos Buttler, they will go for 14 to 15 crores," he said (4:15).

"All three are batters, which includes two Indians. Your top three is set. You need to retain these three. After that, you will have slight problems. You will wish a lot to retain Riyan Parag. However, I won't agree with Riyan Parag for 18 crores," the former India opener added.

However, Chopra acknowledged that the Royals could consider giving ₹18 crore each to Samson and Buttler and ₹14 crore to Jaiswal. He added that Parag can be retained for ₹11 crore in such a scenario.

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"You can keep him with you for four crores" - Aakash Chopra on Sandeep Sharma as the Rajasthan Royals' potential uncapped retention

In the same video, Aakash Chopra suggested that the Rajasthan Royals should retain Sandeep Sharma as an uncapped player and reacquire Riyan Parag, if he is not retained, and Yuzvendra Chahal using RTM cards.

"Sandeep Sharma is an uncapped Indian. You can keep him with you for four crores. Then you will be left with two Right To Match cards. You can use one for Riyan Parag and the second for Yuzi Chahal," he said (5:00).

The reputed commentator reckons the inaugural IPL champions might also want to reacquire Dhruv Jurel at the auction.

"You will then hope that you somehow get Dhruv Jurel as well because I feel Dhruv Jurel has a great future in this team. He is a gun player. We haven't yet seen the best of Jurel because he doesn't get to bat. He gets to bat very low in the batting order but he is a player you want to invest in," Chopra reasoned.

Chopra added that the Rajasthan Royals should also look to buy back Ravichandran Ashwin at the auction. The veteran off-spinner picked up nine wickets at an economy rate of 8.49 in 14 innings in IPL 2024.