Rajasthan Royals (RR) has decided to let go some of their big name international players as the inaugural champions opted to use up all the 6 retention slots on the IPL 2025 retention deadline day on Thursday, October 31.
RR has retained skipper Sanju Samson, opening batter Yashasvi Jaiswal, all-rounder Riyan Parag, finisher Shimron Hetmyer and pacer Sandeep Sharma, but released the likes of Jos Buttler, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult and Ravichandran Ashwin as a total of 16 players were let go ahead of the IPL 2025 Mega Auction.

By retaining all 6 players - 5 capped and 1 uncapped, RR will not be able use the Right to Match card at the big auction. But, there is every chance some of the players will be bought back during the two-day bidding process in November.
The biggest surprise from RR was the release of England's Buttler, who has been a star for the side in the recent seasons. Also, the Indian spin duo of Ashwin and Chahal will go into the auction for the second mega auction in the row.
Apart from the aforementioned names, RR also let go of Indian pacers Avesh Khan, Navdeep Saini, Kuldeep Sen and Prasidh Krishna, along with overseas quicks - Nandre Burger and Nandre Burger.
Chahal and R Ashwin were not the only spinners released by RR as the franchise released Adam Zampa and his replacement Keshav Maharaj, while Donovan Ferreira, Rovman Powell and Tom Kohler Cadmore also joined the exit door.
Uncapped trio of Kunal Rathore, Shubham Dubey and Abid Mushtaq were the other players that were not retained by the Rajasthan Royals ahead of the IPL Mega Auction. Here is the full list of players released by RR: