"What have you done?" - Aakash Chopra on RR's new signing ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs PBKS

Former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned the Rajasthan Royals (RR) for acquiring Nandre Burger for the remainder of IPL 2025. He wondered why the franchise picked the unavailable South African seamer as an injury replacement for Sandeep Sharma.

RR will host the Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Match 59 of IPL 2025 in Jaipur in the afternoon game on Sunday, May 18. With six points from 12 games, the hosts are placed ninth on the points table and are out of contention for a playoff berth, and will hope to avoid finishing with the wooden spoon.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener expressed surprise about RR's decision to sign Burger for the remainder of IPL 2025.

"There is no Jofra Archer. There is no Nandre Burger. Burger hasn't come, or he is already injured. He is not available, and I am thinking, what have you done? You took him as a replacement for Sandeep Sharma. You won't take a replacement if a player who comes as a replacement gets injured," he said (13:45).

Chopra opined that the inaugural IPL champions might have acquired the left-arm pacer for the next season.

"They have basically done it for the next year only. Rajasthan haven't thought about this year at all because they cannot play Nandre Burger now as he isn't available. They have selected an unavailable player so that they can ace the next year's auction. Very interesting choice," he observed.

The Rajasthan Royals had signed Nandre Burger for ₹3.50 crore. They will have the option to retain him ahead of the IPL 2026 auction, as he was acquired before the tournament was suspended for a week.

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"Rajasthan's known problems will keep mounting" - Aakash Chopra on RR's concerns ahead of IPL 2025 clash vs PBKS

Sanju Samson has confirmed his availability for RR's IPL 2025 clash vs PBKS. [P/C: Getty]

In the same video, Aakash Chopra noted that availability issues will continue to trouble the Rajasthan Royals when they restart their IPL 2025 campaign against the Punjab Kings.

"I don't have any idea about Sanju Samson's availability. Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag will play here. (Lhuan-dre) Pretorius has come. He is a good batter. They don't have (Maheesh) Theekshana as well. Many of their players are not there. So Rajasthan's known problems will keep mounting," he said (14:15).

However, the cricketer-turned-commentator pointed out that RR could harm PBKS' playoff or top-two chances with a win in Sunday's game.

"Rajasthan are not going anywhere, but they can just spoil this team's (PBKS') party. So, Punjab, buckle up a little because this match is more important for you. It's like a collision between a Ferrari and an auto. The auto guy won't lose anything." Chopra observed.

Aakash Chopra opined that Shreyas Iyer and company should be slightly wary as they shouldn't let Sunday's game become a banana skin. However, he picked PBKS as the heavy favorites for their clash against RR.