'You Have Kept Him After Wasting 11 Crore': Aakash Chopra Shows No Mercy To Rajasthan Royals Star, Suggests Franchise To Release Him

IPL 2025: Sanju Samson's Rajasthan Royals endured a horrid run in the ongoing eighteenth edition of the Indian Premier League. Rajasthan looked like a very solid side on paper, but somehow, their performances have been far from good. The Royals, the inaugural champions of the IPL, made a mockery of run chases in a few games, and it resulted in their campaign coming to a very painful end. The Royals were recently outsmarted by the Punjab Kings in match number 59 of the ongoing Indian Premier League.

Everything seems to have gone wrong for the Royals this time around. They were without their regular skipper Sanju Samson in the first few games. The players did not fire as a unit. There were rumors of a rift in the camp, especially between Rahul Dravid and Sanju Samson. All in all, the Royals would like to forget IPL 2025 and they have to prepare for the next season.

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Aakash Chopra Comes Down Hard On Shimron Hetmyer

Rajasthan Royals let go of Jos Buttler ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auctions. The Royals were criticized for releasing such a key member who has been at the forefront of many memorable victories. This decision seems to have backfired on the Royals, but now they have no way to undo things. Rajasthan's biggest pain area this season has been their middle order.

Despite the top order doing well on various occasions, the middle order failed to chase totals down and close games out. Former India opener Aakash Chopra has heavily criticized Caribbean southpaw Shimron Hetmyer, who hasn't been able to strike the right chord this time around.

"This team should release Shimron Hetmyer. You have kept him after wasting ₹11 crore because he hasn't performed at all, and these were the games he should have won. Then Dhruv Jurel is left alone, and even if Shimron Hetmyer is there with him, he doesn't finish games," said Chopra. The destructive batter has failed to live up to his reputation and has scored only 227 runs from 13 matches.

Royals Look To Bow Out Of IPL 2025 In Style

The Sanju Samson-led side just has one match left in the ongoing 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League.

The Royals will lock horns with the Chennai Super Kings next on May 20, 2025, and the match will be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium. Rajasthan and Chennai both have been eliminated from IPL 2025.

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