Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) retentions ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 mega auction saw some huge stars get released into the auction pool. Two among them were English opener Jos Buttler and Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal. The duo played a crucial role as Rajasthan Royals reached the playoffs twice in three years, including the final in the 2022 season. On Friday, Chahal took to social media to pen a heartfelt message for Jos Buttler, with both of their IPL futures now unknown.

Fondly calling him Jos bhai (brother), Chahal shared a video of moments shared between the two.

“In 2022 I knew him as Jos Buttler. In 2024, he’s my Jos bhai,” wrote Chahal.

“Loved every day being around you and only a few people know what you’ve done for me. Thank you for always standing by me. And hopefully, on some evening at 7.30 PM, we both will open the batting together ,” Chahal continued.

In 2022 I knew him as Jos Buttler. In 2024, he’s my Jos bhai.

Loved every day being around you and only a few people know what you’ve done for me. Thank you for always standing by me. And hopefully, on some evening at 7.30 PM, we both will open the batting together pic.twitter.com/C70Fxz5zq0

— Yuzvendra Chahal (@yuzi_chahal) November 8, 2024

Buttler and Chahal were surprisingly not retained by Rajasthan Royals, with the 2008 IPL champions instead going with Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer and Sandeep Sharma as their six retentions.

Buttler was the ‘Most Valuable Player’ of the 2022 season, when he slammed 863 runs including four centuries. Buttler suffered an inconsistent 2024, but still hit two more hundreds.

On the other hand, Chahal has not only been RR’s highest wicket-taker during the previous three seasons, he is also the highest wicket-taker in IPL history. Chahal scalped 27 wickets in 2022, and has picked up 18 or more wickets in every single season since 2019.

Rajasthan enter the IPL 2025 mega auction with the lowest budget of any team, at Rs 41 crore. They also have a new head coach, in the form of Rahul Dravid, who won the T20 World Cup 2024 with India in his last game as coach.