Nitish Rana was ruled out of the Kolkata Knight Riders game due to a niggle and now has been ruled out of the ongoing IPL season for the Rajasthan Royals. Rajasthan Royals have already been knocked out of the tournament and would look to give their bench a few chances.
Rajasthan Royals have been dealt an injury blow as well, with top-order batter Nitish Rana ruled out of the ongoing season of the IPL. The Royals have signed the 19-year-old South African opening wicketkeeper-batter Lhuan-dre Pretorius as Rana’s replacement. Pretorius, who caught everyone’s eye during last year’s U19 World Cup, scoring 287 runs in six innings at an average of 57.40, showed and proved in his maiden SA20 stint that he is one for the future and the Royals have secured him before the mini-auction.
“Lhuan dre Pretorius steps in for Nitish Rana, who’s healing from a calf injury,” Rajasthan Royals said in a statement on X (previously Twitter). Pretorius joined his SA20 franchise’s sister-concern, Rajasthan, at his base price of Rs 30 Lakh. Pretorius made the world sit up and take notice during SA20, playing for the Paarl Royals. Pretorius amassed 397 runs in 12 innings, striking at 166 and was the leading run-getter of the 2025 season.
Rana missed the Royals’ previous clash against the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens and has now been ruled out. The left-hander played a match-winning knock of 81 off 36 against the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) but had mediocre returns in the rest of the games. Rana had scored 217 runs in 11 innings for the Royals.
