Sandeep Sharma, who last featured for India in 2015, will be retained as an uncapped player by RR, joining three of his compatriots, Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Riyan Parag, whose retentions were a foregone conclusion before the deadline on Thursday (October 31). As we enter the deadline day for IPL Retention 2025, many teams' possible retention list continue to trickle down, and the gossip around the inaugural champions' candidates becomes a little clear. Earlier reports suggested Samson, Jaiswal and Parag were the three players that will be retained by the Royals. Now, a recent report from ESPNcricinfo states that Sandeep Sharma will be the fourth retention, while the franchise also remain in talks with another player. The reports adds RR is in last minute talks with another player from their 2024 squad, but that is not England white-ball captain Jos Buttler or Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. Indian wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel is the one the franchise may be thinking of retaining ahead of the deadline at 5 PM IST today. If unsuccessful, the Royals could use Right to Match cards to buy back the stumper along with Buttler at the big auction next month. Royals could go into the IPL Mega Auction with a remaining purse of Rs 73 Crore should they manage to retain Samson, Jaiswal, Parag and Sandeep Sharma at the fixed price slabs of Rs 18 Crore, Rs 14 Crore, Rs 11 Crore and Rs 4 Crore (uncapped). And if they also manage to retain Jurel, then Royals will be left with a purse of Rs 55 Crore as the fourth capped retention will mean the Royals will lose a total of Rs 61 Crore from their purse, and the Rs 4 Crore deduction for Sandeep, takes their overall spend to Rs 65 Crore. With a substantial amount left, Royals will look to buy back some of their core players, including Buttler, Chahal, Shimron Hetmyer, Trent Boult and Ravichandran Ashwin, during the two-day auction, which may be held in Saudi Arabia after November 20.