In a major development for Rajasthan Royals ahead of the IPL (Indian Premier League) 2025, the side came forward and named star player Riyan Parag as their skipper for the first three matches of the tournament, as regular captain Sanju Samson will be playing as a pure batter.
Samson will not be the wicketkeeper for RR in the first three games, as he is still recovering from the finger surgery that he had recently. The star player, however, is expected to open the innings for the inaugural champions. With the decision to make Parag the stand-in captain, the 23-year-old took to Instagram and talked about how ready he is to take on the challenge.
"Big shoes to fill in for the first few games as a leader. Up for this challenge – for @imsanjusamson for @rajasthanroyals,” Riyan Parag captioned his post on Instagram.
Furthermore, the side’s regular skipper Sanju Samson had recently come forward and talked about how he fully believes in Riyan Parag’s ability to take the franchise forward and asked the player to back the 23-year-old
"I am actually not completely fit for the next three games. So there are lot of leaders in this group from last few years. There have been some great people who have taken care of this environment really nicely. But for the next three games, Riyan will be leading the team. He is very capable to do it. I expect everyone to support him and be with him,” Samson said in a video shared by RR on X.
It is worth noting that Rajasthan Royals will kick off their IPL 2025 campaign by taking on Sunrisers Hyderabad. Both sides will lock horns at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on March 23 in the 2nd game of the tournament. It was SRH who eliminated RR in the previous edition of the IPL, and now the inaugural champions will be seeking redemption.