Here are three starting XI decisions Rajasthan Royals have to make ahead of IPL 2025.
Rajasthan Royals (RR) are yet to win the Indian Premier League (IPL) title ever since clinching the inaugural edition back in 2008. Over the last few years though, Rajasthan Royals have built a strong core squad under skipper Sanju Samson. Three years after Rajasthan Royals last made the IPL final (in 2022), they will hope to go all the way and possibly even do one better by lifting the trophy.
Rajasthan Royals begin their IPL 2025 campaign with an away match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Hyderabad on March 23. Here are three key starting XI decisions the former champions have to make before IPL 2025:
England’s Jofra Archer is a certain starter for Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2025. The same, however, cannot be said about Akash Madhwal and Tushar Deshpande. Rajasthan Royals acquired both pacers during the IPL 2025 mega auction in Saudi Arabia last year. While they got Deshpande for Rs 6.50 crore, Madhwal was acquired for Rs 1.20 crore.
There can also be a possibility of Tushar Deshpande starting for Rajasthan Royals and Akash Madhwal being named as one of the impact substitutes. Add to that, Tushar (42 wickets in 36 IPL matches) is more experienced than Akash (19 wickets from 13 matches), which means the former is likely to get more game time.
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Trent Boult and Avesh Khan were among the big pacers that the Royals released before the auction last year. So, their pace attack looks fairly inexperienced, but it will be a good opportunity for both Akash and Tushar to impress.
Having let go of Jos Buttler ahead of IPL 2025 means that Rajasthan Royals are not left with much choice when it comes to their oeners. Skipper Sanju Samson will have to promote himself to the openers’ slot, along with Yashasvi Jaiswal. Buttler had a decent record as an opener for Rajasthan Royals, aggregating 359 runs from 11 matches.
While Buttler will be a big miss for Rajasthan Royals, Samson, too, has had fitness concerns of late. Only last week, the Kerala cricketer underwent surgery for a finger injury but he is still likely to regain fitness ahead of his team’s season-opener.
The Royals, however, lack a solid batter who can open in Samson’s absence. Nitish Rana, though, is a versatile batter who can bat anywhere and has proven that he can even handle pressure situations in a calm manner. Who knows, maybe Rajasthan Royals could permanently open with Nitish and Jaiswal with Samson batting in his regular No 3 spot.
Middle-order batter Shubham Dubey can be a valuable addition as an impact player for the Royals. Having said that, he was pretty good for Vidarbha in the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophy, scoring 134 runs from four innings at a strike-rate of 181.08. He played just four games for Rajasthan Royals last year, scoring just 33 runs. However, past numbers won’t determine how a player will do in the upcoming option and even if he is not a permanent starter for RR, Shubham is a worthy option as a back-up batter.
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