'What is the logic behind retaining Shimron Hetmyer and not Jos Buttler?' - Aakash Chopra questions Rajasthan Royals' retention strategy

Aakash Chopra has been left bemused by Rajasthan Royals' (RR) call to retain West Indies finisher Shimron Hetmyer and release England's white-ball captain Jos Buttler ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025) mega-auction in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on November 24 and 25, respectively.

Rajasthan were the only team apart from defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to retain their full quota of six players ahead of the auction. Captain Sanju Samson (INR 18 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (INR 18 crore), Riyan Parag (INR 14 crore), Dhruv Jurel (INR 14 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (INR 11 crore), and Sandeep Sharma (INR 4 crore) were the six players retained by the inaugural IPL champions.

Apart from Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal were two other star players released by the Rajasthan-based franchise. Chopra noted that Royals had many players in their squad who were good enough to be retained and that is why some of their decisions are being questioned.

"Rajasthan Royals was a team that had a lot of players to be retained. Whoever they would have left would have been unhappy. There are questions for sure. The three names that seemed would definitely stay included Sanju Samson, who is the captain, and Yashasvi Jaiswal. It was known that these two would 100 percent stay," Chopra said in a video shared on his YouTube channel.

"It was assumed that Riyan Parag would also stay and he stayed as well, although you thought Jos Buttler would be retained before Riyan Parag. Jos wasn't retained and Shimron Hetmyer was retained. What is the logic? You let Jos Buttler go and you don't have an RTM left as well," Chopra added.

Whenever Jos does well, he wins the match: Chopra

Furthermore, Aakash Chopra recalled that the England wicketkeeper-batter won matches for Rajasthan even when he was not in his peak form. The 34-year-old Buttler amassed 3,055 runs for the Royals from 82 innings at a staggering average of 41.84 and an awe-inspiring strike rate of 147.79. He also registered 18 half-centuries and seven tons during his time at the Royals.

Also Read: 5 Greatest Rajasthan Royals players in IPL history

"I admit that Jos Buttler's last two years haven't been that good but when he played badly, he scored two centuries, and both in winning causes. Whenever Jos does well, he wins the match, but they let him go. It seems like Jos is their global brand ambassador. He plays for them for the Paarl Royals as well. So you assumed this partnership would continue. I was very surprised they let Jos go," Chopra concluded.