IPL 2025: 3 Expensive RR players who gave low returns

In a competition where each rupee falls under the critical glare of fan attention, IPL 2025 demonstrated how even the largest names can fail if form betrays them. Waste your auction budget on big names, and at times, the scoreboard just won't play ball. For Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2025, some of their most expensive retention and pickups didn't make the match-winning returns their price tags hinted at. These are three marquee players whose performances were way short of expectations.

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1. Shimron Hetmyer (Retained for ₹ 11 crore)

The West Indies left-hander came in as RR's finisher-in-chief, relied upon to seal games with his signature power hitting. Instead, Hetmyer mustered 239 runs in 14 games at a 21.72 average and 145.73 strike rate with only one fifty all campaign. More importantly, he was in the middle of action during many chases but consistently couldn't get the team home, making people question if a finisher who couldn't finish was worth the franchise's large retention cost.

2. Tushar Deshpande (Purchased for ₹ 6.50 crore)

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Fresh from a good run with Chennai in 2024, Deshpande joined Jaipur with big hopes—and a matching price tag. But in 10 matches, he managed only 9 wickets, leaking 340 runs at an economy of 10.62 and an average of 37.77 per wicket. In a bowling attack that placed great value on control in the middle overs, his failure to plug the flow regularly left opposing batsmen untroubled, discrediting RR's painstakingly constructed bowling balance.

3. Nitish Rana (Acquired at ₹ 4.20 crore)

The ex-KKR player was identified as a middle-order stabiliser, but his tournament figures are more akin to a lower-order pinch hitter. In 11 games, Rana scored 217 runs at 21.70, with a swift strike rate of 161.94 and two fifties. Those starts never translated into the sort of big knocks that could tilt games, making Rajasthan's middle order look vulnerable whenever the top order faltered.

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