Parag wins his first toss as capt, RR opt to bowl
On Sunday, the opening doubleheader of the 2025 Indian Premier League, Riyan Parag won his maiden toss as captain and chose to bowl against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), the hosts, in the afternoon match. Sanju Samson, the normal captain of the Rajasthan Royals (RR), who is currently recovering from a finger injury, will be their Impact Player when they chase, Parag further affirmed.
RR will have an all-Indian top six that includes Shubham Dubey of Vidarbha and Samson. Three foreign bowlers, Jofra Archer, Fazalhaq Farooqi, and Maheesh Theekshana, who was selected before his Sri Lankan senior Wanindu Hasaranga, bolstered their assault. The only batter from outside their team is finisher Shimron Hetmyer.
The only foreign players selected by SRH were skipper Cummins, Travis Head, and Heinrich Klaasen. Additionally, 23-year-old MP batsman Aniket Verma was given his IPL debut. Later in the evening, when SRH bowls, they can choose to use Adam Zampa as their Impact Player.
The 23-year-old Verma was dismissed for a duck in December 2024, his only T20 match to far. With 273 runs in six innings at a strike rate of 195, he was the leading scorer in the Madhya Pradesh T20 league when he was taken out. Simarjeet Singh, a former fast with the Chennai Super Kings, was selected before their Impact Sub, left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat.
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 1 Travis Head, 2 Abhishek Sharma, 3 Ishan Kishan (wk), 4 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 5 Heinrich Klaasen, 6 Aniket Verma, 7 Abhinav Manohar, 8 Pat Cummins (capt), 9 Simarjeet Singh, 10 Harshal Patel 11 Mohammed Shami.
Impact Subs: Adam Zampa, Sachin Baby, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari
Rajasthan Royals: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Shubham Dubey, 3 Nitish Rana, 4 Riyan Parag (capt), 5 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Jofra Archer, 8 Maheesh Theekshana, 9 Tushar Deshpande, 10 Sandeep Sharma, 11 Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Impact subs: Sanju Samson, Kwena Maphaka, Kunal Singh Rathore, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal
Seven years after winning the Under-19 World Cup in 2018 under Dravid, Parag will captain RR, with Dravid as the new coach of the franchise. At 23, Parag will be the among the youngest captains in the league.
Parag will stand in for Samson, who is working his way back from finger surgery. Samson, though, is set to play as a batter (perhaps as an Impact batter) until he gets cleared for keeping and fielding duties. Parag will lead RR for their first three games in IPL 2025.
At the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday, March 23, Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag challenged Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) player Pat Cummins in the second game of the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL 2025).
View the complete scorecard and live score updates for IPL 2025 Match 2: SRH vs. RR HERE.
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Nitish Kumar Reddy, an all-rounder for India, has returned, giving their team even more depth. Abhishek gives the team form and flare; he recently hit 135 off 54 balls against England. Sunrisers achieved three IPL 2024 totals of 250 or more, including an incredible 287 against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Sanju Samson, the captain of the Rajasthan Royals, is now out because of a finger injury. In his place, Riyan Parag will be the team's leader. The Royals still have important players like Shimron Hetmyer and Yashasvi Jaiswal despite losing Jos Buttler, but they will have a difficult time facing the Sunrisers' formidable roster.
