"You have kept him after wasting ₹11 crore" - Aakash Chopra says RR should release Caribbean star after IPL 2025 loss vs PBKS

Former India player Aakash Chopra has opined that the Rajasthan Royals (RR) should release Shimron Hetmyer after IPL 2025. He highlighted that the Caribbean batter, who was retained for an exorbitant sum, has failed to finish games he should have won.

The Punjab Kings (PBKS) set RR a 220-run target in Match 59 of IPL 2025 in Jaipur on Sunday, May 18. Hetmyer managed only 11 runs off 12 deliveries in the chase as the hosts were restricted to 209/7, losing the game by 10 runs.

Reflecting on RR's chase in a video shared on his YouTube channel 'Aakash Chopra', the former India opener noted that Dhruv Jurel (53 off 31) played a good knock, but once again couldn't take his side over the line. Chopra was particularly disappointed with Hetmyer for failing to live up to expectations in IPL 2025, saying (18:45):

"Dhruv Jurel played a good knock once again, but couldn't finish. I won't say the ₹14 crore investment in him was wrong, but the truth is that they have fallen just short in run chases many times, and Dhruv Jurel was standing in the end in all those games. Dhruv Jurel is standing there and scoring runs, but is unable to finish matches, and that becomes a bit of an issue."

"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," he added.

Aakash Chopra reckoned that the Rajasthan Royals should also release Fazalhaq Farooqi and Kwena Maphaka ahead of the IPL 2026 auction. While observing that Maheesh Theekshana might also be released, he added that Wanindu Hasaranga also hasn't done anything amazing to justify the ₹5.25 crore spent on him.

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"The maturity is being seen now" - Aakash Chopra lauds Vaibhav Suryavanshi's knock in RR's IPL 2025 loss vs PBKS

Vaibhav Suryavanshi played a blazing knock in RR's IPL 2025 clash against PBKS. [P/C: Getty]

Reflecting on the start of RR's chase, Aakash Chopra noted that Vaibhav Suryavanshi showed greater maturity in Sunday's game.

"They started extremely well. Vaibhav Suryavanshi, we saw a century as well, but the maturity is being seen now. He was playing the short-of-length deliveries cautiously, but after that, the way he hit Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen, he played outstanding shots," he said in the same video.

While praising Yashasvi Jaiswal for scoring a half-century, the cricketer-turned-commentator added that the RR opener needs to finish games.

"Yashasvi Jaiswal was batting incredibly well, but he will have to learn one thing - he needs to finish matches. He leaves the match in the middle, and the team is unable to win. When he was playing, the Orange Cap had also come on his head, but he needs to finish games off," Chopra observed.

Vaibhav Suryavanshi smashed 40 runs off 15 deliveries with the help of four fours and as many sixes in RR's IPL 2025 clash against PBKS. Yashasvi Jaiswal scored 50 runs off 25 balls, a knock studded with nine fours and a six, but virtually threw his wicket away by hitting a Harpreet Brar delivery straight down the long-off fielder's throat.