Rajasthan Royals open their IPL 2025 campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second match of IPL 2025 at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Sunday, March 23.
The Royals, who have made playoff appearances more often recently, are still looking for their second title after winning the IPL in the first season. Meanwhile, the 2016 champions Sunrisers Hyderabad are also looking for their second crown after finishing runners-up last season.
Riyan Parag is leading the Royals in their opening match of IPL 2025 in place of regular skipper Sanju Samson. Parag had a stellar season last year when he finally repaid the franchise's faith with 573 runs and was the third-highest run-scorer the previous year.
Why is Parag leading Royals in place of Samson?
Notably, Sanju Samson was not given clearance by the BCCI Centre of Excellence for wicketkeeping and will be available to play as a batter or as an Impact sub in the initial matches. He had injured his finger during the T20I series between India and England earlier in the year. In his absence, Parag was named captain for the first three matches.
"Sanju Samson, an integral part of the Royals set-up, will remain a key contributor with the bat until he is cleared for wicketkeeping and fielding. He will return as captain once fully fit," the Royals had announced earlier this week.
Meanwhile, Parag won the toss and opted to bowl first. "Bowling first. Looks like a dry wicket so we'll have a crack at it later. (On captaincy) Means a lot, started here as a 17-year-old. Getting to fill in big shoes, very excited. The impact rule helps with Sanju. We've retained a lot of our core so that helps with the batting order. The other three overseas will be Theekshana, Jofra and Farooqi. Always good to start well, we have practiced a lot," Parag said at the toss.
"It is great to be back. The core of the group is the same, the coaching staff is the same. Don't think batting or bowling first matters. It is pretty hot, so don't mind bowling second. Would be nice to keep last season's form going. We always encourage our games to play with freedom. Abhi and Heady with hopefully continue from last year, and Nitish and Klassen are there as well. Ishan Kishan and Abhinav Manohar will be making their debuts," SRH skipper Cummins at the toss.
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubham Dubey, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag(c), Dhruv Jurel(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi
Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins(c), Simarjeet Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami