Rajasthan Royals will start their IPL 2025 campaign against Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 23. Here's the predicted playing XI for RR including impact player options.
RR's squad for IPL 2025
Rajasthan Royals were the first team to win the IPL, but had done little of note since then – until the previous cycle, where they reached the final in 2022, and finished fifth in 2023 and third in 2024. With a revamped squad, they will now start another IPL season in pursuit of that elusive second title.
The one advantage RR have over others is a steady captain. Of all IPL captains in the 2021 edition, Sanju Samson will be the only one to lead the same franchise in 2025 as well. Two significant things have transpired since the 2024 IPL. One, Samson, who used to bat one-drop for RR, has established himself as an opener in the Indian T20I XI. And two, RR let go of Jos Buttler, leaving a slot open at the top.
Samson, thus, is likely to promote himself to open batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal, which may also mean a promotion for usually underutilised Dhruv Jurel. On the other hand, an inexperienced middle order – Shimron Hetmyer is the only truly big name there – may convince Samson to use someone else at the top.
Find more details on the complete Rajasthan Royals squad for IPL 2025 here
RR predicted XI for IPL 2025
RR have the option of combining Samson, Jaiswal, and Jurel with Nitish Rana and Riyan Parag. That will give them an all-Indian top five, something few teams have tried in IPL history. With the wicketkeeper also taken care of, they can pick Hetmyer and three overseas bowlers to make up for the lack of Trent Boult, R Ashwin, and Yuzvendra Chahal, familiar faces from the previous cycle.
Read more: IPL 2025 power rankings: Punjab Kings the best placed side
Wanindu Hasaranga and Jofra Archer would be two of them, and are set to become two of Rajasthan’s key players in 2025. The fourth overseas player will be one of Fazalhaq Farooqi and Maheesh Theekshana (unless Kwena Maphaka gets a nod ahead of them), depending on the conditions. The other two spots will go to Indian bowlers, likely to be picked from Tushar Deshpande, Akash Madhwal, and the now-uncapped Sandeep Sharma.
Of course, if they bat first, RR will pick the extra batter, while someone like Sandeep will come in as the Impact Player later in the game. For that, whether they go for their wunderkind Vaibhav Suryavanshi or back Vidarbha power hitter Shubham Dubey remains to be seen.
Also read: Mellow, profound, peaceful: Virat Kohli gives a rare peek into his inner world
Predicted first XI: Sanju Samson (c & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer*, Wanindu Hasaranga*, Jofra Archer*, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Maheesh Theekshana*/Fazalhaq Farooqi*.
Impact player options (in order of priority): Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya
*overseas player
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
