On Thursday, Rajasthan Royals made a rather intriguing decision by signing in the South African youngster Lhuan-dre Pretorius as a replacement for Nitish Rana, who had been injured, for the remainder of the Indian Premier League season. Pretorius, despite being only 19 years old, has already made a name for himself in T20s with 33 matches and 911 runs under his belt. His highlight innings came in his very first match this year for the SA20 side Paarl Royals, hitting 97. Fun fact: The owners of Paarl Royals are the same owners who operate Rajasthan Royals.
According to the IPL, Pretorius was set to join the Royals at a base price of Rs 30 Lakh, which is not bad, considering his young age trying to establish himself in the league. Rana, on the other hand, had a decent season, scoring 217 runs at an astonishing strike rate of 161.94, with a best score of 81.
It is a dead-end for the Royals, being knocked out from the playoffs already. Thus, their remaining two matches would be all about pride. They’ll have Tamil Nadu-based Chennai Super Kings and Punjab Kings as their opposition to conclude their journey in the IPL. It’s a hard blow for the Royals, but they will be looking to make a strong come-back while clinging on to some pride.
