Former India batter Abhinav Mukund spoke about Rajasthan Royals’ auction picks following their loss to Mumbai Indians on Thursday night, which led to them getting knocked out of the playoffs race in IPL 2025.
Mukund felt Tushar Deshpande did not come good for RR, who spent INR 6.75 crore on him in the auction. He then claimed that picking Nitish Rana and Vaibhav Suryavanshi was not ideal either.
“Their one good bowler, the one they have spent the most money on, is Archer. Unfortunately, their Indian pick did not go well. Tushar Deshpande, benched for this particular game, was bought for a lot of money (INR 6.75 crore). Then again, you had three plus one something that you invested in two more Indian batters, Nitish Rana and Vaibhav Suryavanshi,” Mukund said to ESPNcricinfo.
In the match against MI, Suryavanshi bagged a two-ball duck after scoring a sensational 101(38) in the previous match against GT. His failure indirectly cost RR, who were bundled out for a total of just 117 runs, in reply to MI’s 217. It marked the exit of the inaugural champions from the 18th edition of the league. Rana and Suryavanshi’s picks and price in the IPL auction 2025 were questioned.
Also Read: IPL 2025: Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians, Match 50 – Who Said What?
I would have still not bought Vaibhav Suryavanshi for INR 1.1 crore, and Nitish Rana for INR 3 crore: Mukund
The former CSK player claimed that picking Suryavanshi and Rana for INR 1.1 crore and 3 crore, respectively, did not make sense to him despite thinking about it many times. The former Indian player felt that a better investment for the same amount could have been on the bowlers. He felt RR could have retained or brought back bowlers like Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Ravichandran Ashwin, and Trent Boult.
“How much ever I think, I would have still not bought Vaibhav Suryavanshi for INR 1.1 crore, and Nitish Rana for INR 3 crore (INR 4.2 crore). I would have invested that money in a couple of good bowlers. Look at their bowling last year, forget the big names, you still got Avesh Khan, Chahal, Ashwin, Trent Boult, and Sandeep Sharma, these are five bankable proper bowlers,” Mukund added.
