Who Is Lhuan-dre Pretorius? Protea teenage sensation replaces Nitish Rana in RR squad

NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals have turned to exciting South African teenage sensation Lhuan-dre Pretorius to bolster their squad for the remainder of IPL 2025. With Nitish Rana ruled out due to injury, the Royals have signed Pretorius at his base price of Rs 30 lakh, injecting youthful flair into a side already out of playoff contention. While RR currently sit ninth on the table, the move signals a forward-thinking approach, looking beyond the current season.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. Lhuan-dre Pretorius is no ordinary teenager. At just 19, the left-handed wicketkeeper-batter made waves in South Africa’s SA20 league, shining for the Paarl Royals with composed, hard-hitting performances at the top of the order last season. In his first three appearances, Pretorius has posted two half-centuries, showing the kind of poise and power that belies his age. Facing elite bowlers like Rabada and Nortje, he hasn’t flinched, a trait that has fast-tracked his rise. In the 2025 season of SA20, he amassed 397 runs from 12 matches, hitting at a noteworthy strike-rate of 166.81. Pretorius’s journey has been shaped by a cricket-infused upbringing in Potchefstroom, where his father Abe—a hard-nosed Afrikaans mining professional—set up a backyard net and dedicated countless hours to helping his sons train. “He lives for cricket,” Abe says. “He doesn’t watch cartoons—he YouTubes cricket.”That lifelong obsession took Lhuan-dre to Johannesburg’s prestigious St Stithians College, alma mater of several South African internationals, including Kagiso Rabada. There, he formed a formidable partnership with current SA U-19 and Paarl Royals teammate Kwena Maphaka. The duo dominated school and youth cricket, with Pretorius often pulling the strings from behind the stumps.Though comparisons with Quinton de Kock are inevitable—both are left-handed, aggressive openers and keepers—Pretorius isn’t fazed. In fact, he idolises De Kock and has long dreamt of sharing the field with his hero. That dream is inching closer to reality as he now wears the Royals’ pink in the IPL, poised for his biggest challenge yet.Still just a teenager, Pretorius is grounded by his family, driven by passion, and focused on the game. With SA20 success under his belt and the IPL spotlight now on him, his cricketing journey is only beginning.