Jaipur, May 8 (UNI) Rajasthan Royals have signed South African pacer Nandre Burger as an injury replacement for Sandeep Sharma for the remainder of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 season.

Sandeep played the first 10 matches of IPL 2025 for the Royals and picked up nine wickets at an average of just over 40. His best figures of 2/21 came against the Punjab Kings.

However, Sandeep sustained a finger injury while attempting to stop a powerful drive from Shubman Gill off his own bowling during RR’s match against Gujarat Titans at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on April 28.

The 31-year-old right-arm pacer, however, bravely completed the final eight deliveries of his spell in the match. He underwent scans later, which confirmed a fracture and ruled him out for the remainder of the season.

Left-arm pacer Nandre Burger is a full-fledged international for South Africa and has represented the Proteas in all three formats of international cricket. He has played 69 T20s in his career, picking up 77 wickets.

Burger has previously played for RR in IPL 2024, where he picked up seven wickets from six games.

He joins RR for INR 3.5 crore.

The 29-year-old Burger is the second South African added to the RR squad. Earlier on Thursday, Lhuan-dre Pretorius was named as an injury replacement for Nitish Rana.

RR have two matches left to play in the IPL 2025 league stage. They will face CSK in Chennai on May 12 before returning home to Jaipur to host Punjab Kings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium for their final game of the season.

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