Riyan Parag to Captain Royals in Opening Three Matches, Samson to Feature as Impact Sub

Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson will feature as a batter for the first three games of the IPL 2025 season. Because of the finger injury he suffered after being hit by a bouncer from Jofra Archer in the five-match T20I series against England, Samson won't be doing wicketkeeping.

He may instead be an impact player for these initial games, while Riyan Parag has been made the temporary captain.

Samson has already arrived with the Rajasthan Royals team and taken part in his first training session on Monday, a development which was confirmed by the franchise on social media. The team posted the information to fans on their official X handle, saying, "Straight from the airport to our first practice match to making everyone smile like he does!".

The Royals will start their IPL 2025 journey against Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 23, followed by encounters with Kolkata Knight Riders on March 26 and Chennai Super Kings on March 30.

Before the auction, Rajasthan Royals made some important retention choices, retaining players such as Sanju Samson (Rs. 18 crore), Yashasvi Jaiswal (Rs. 18 crore), Riyan Parag (Rs. 14 crore), Dhruv Jurel (Rs. 14 crore), Shimron Hetmyer (Rs. 11 crore), and Sandeep Sharma (Rs. 4 crore). The franchise also strengthened their bowling unit in the auction, recruiting top-class players like Jofra Archer, along with Sri Lanka's spin pair, Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana.

RR Squad for IPL 2025:
Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Sandeep Sharma, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Nitish Rana, Tushar Deshpande, Shubham Dubey, Yudhvir Singh, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Kwena Maphaka, Kunal Rathore, Ashok Sharma.

Even with impressive performances over the last few seasons, Rajasthan Royals have not won their second IPL trophy as of yet. Their one and only championship was way back in 2008 when Shane Warne captained the team to the title, and they will be hoping to end their title drought in IPL 2025.