Rajasthan Royals Sign Lhuan-dre-Pretorius from Paarl Royals as Replacement for Nitish Rana

The Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals have today officially announced that they have signed Lhuan-dre-Pretorius from their sister team Paarl Royals over in South Africa, as a replacement for Nitish Rana for IPL 2025.

The Rajasthan Royals have had a disappointing season even after qualifying for the playoffs last season. They became the 2nd team to be eliminated from the IPL 2025 Playoffs race after CSK.

With now 2 matches remaining in this campaign, the Rajasthan Royals are now looking at rebuilding some areas of the side ahead of the IPL 2026 season. Today, they have announced the signing of a 19-year-old South African wicketkeeper batter, Lhuan-dre-Pretorius, who plays for Rajasthan’s sister team Paarl Royals in the SA20 League.

Who is Lhuan-dre-Pretorius?

Lhuan-dre-Pretorius is a promising 19-year-old South African wicketkeeper-aggressive batter who likes to play big hits in the 6-over powerplay. He was born in Potchefstroom, North West, South Africa on 27 March 2006.

He got the spotlight on him after his wonderful performance in the SA20 League 2025 season earlier this year. In his debut match itself in the tournament, Pretorius scored 97 runs off 51 balls against the defending champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape.

He scored 397 runs in 12 innings in the SA20 2025 with a strike rate of 166.81 and average of 33.08. He is better known for his ability to maximize the powerplay overs.

The left-hand batter also played for the South Africa U19 team in the 2024 U19 World Cup. And those who watched him play for South Africa U19, were full of praise for him.

In the tournament, he scored 287 runs in 6 innings with an average of 57.40 and a strike rate of 94.10. He scored 76 runs vs India U19 in the semi-final, which the hosts South Africa lost.

Rajasthan Royals performance in IPL 2025

Meanwhile, the Rajasthan Royals have had a difficult IPL 2025 campaign. After reaching the playoffs last season, there were huge expectations from the fans. However, the side has dealt with injuries, losing close call games, and controversies.

As of writing this, the Royals have played 12 matches in which they have won 3 games and lost 9, sitting in 9th position in the IPL 2025 points table with 6 points and have 2 games left.

They play against the bottom-placed Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on 12th May followed by their last match of the campaign against the Punjab Kings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on 16 May.