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One of the most consistent sides in the last three seasons, Rajasthan Royals purchased quality players in the IPL 2025 auction. They spent INR 40.70 crore to secure the services of 14 players, with the most notable acquisition being pacer Jofra Archer.
Meanwhile, the experienced players like Nitish Rana, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana and Fazalhaq Farooqi will also be plyingtheir trade for the Royals in the upcoming season.
The side chose to retain six players ahead of the auction. Namely, they were skipper Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer and Sandeep Sharma. With a combination of retained players and fresh acquisitions, the Royals look like a well-balanced unit, who are ready to fire on all cylinders.
On that note, let’s check out the best Playing XI of RR for IPL 2025
1. Yashasvi Jaiswal
The left-hander has become a star since slamming 600+ runs in the IPL 2023 season. He has displayed terrific consistency for the franchise and replicated it for the Indian team as well. The last edition saw him score 435 runs at a strike rate of 155.91, with 104* as the finest knock.
Jaiswal has a special ability to score boundaries with his traditional approach against pacers and has a commendable spin game, which could prove to be lethal for the opposition bowlers.
2. Sanju Samson (c & wk)
The Royals captain, Sanju Samson produced his best-ever IPL tally last season. He smashed 531 runs at an average of 48.27 and a strike rate of 153.46, with five fifties. Samson’s fiery knocks helped RR to qualify for the playoffs.
In the absence of Jos Buttler, the keeper-batter is likely to open for the Royals, like he has been doing for the Indian T20I team. The right-left combination is expected to disturb the flow of opposition bowlers and help RR have a strong start.
3. Nitish Rana
Nitish Rana played only two games for Kolkata Knight Riders last year due to a finger injury. He had been a key figure in the KKR setup with consistent runs under his belt, with 413 runs coming in the 2023 season as a captain.
Rajasthan Royals bought Rana for a price of INR 4.20 crore, which could prove to be a good decision. The southpaw has experience of handling swing in the powerplay overs and plays spin quite well. Along with giving a good start. he can be crucial in steering the team well in the middle overs.
4. Riyan Parag
The right-hand batter, Riyan Parag finally proved himself with a breakthrough season, which also resulted in him making debut for the Indian team. Parag amassed 573 runs at an average of 52.09 and a strike rate of 149.21 to emerge as RR’s best batter.
Parag’s confidence will be certainly high after getting retained by the side. However, he will look to keep his calm attitude intact to continue his impressive run in the IPL.
5. Dhruv Jurel
The keeper-batter was one of the most surprising retentions by the Rajasthan Royals. However, the franchise and the cricket fraternity were certainly stunned by Jurel’s assault in the Qualifier 2 game against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He earned applause for his fighting knock of 56* off 35 balls.
Jurel will be looked upon as the player who would be crucial for the side in rotating the strike in the middle phase and provide a fine flourish in the death overs.
6. Shimron Hetmyer
The Caribbean batter made use of most of the opportunities in the last three editions for the Royals. He slammed 726 runs and held a strike rate of 154.47.
Throughout his three years with the team, Hetmyer has been sensational with his power-hitting to end the innings well for the franchise. He will don the same role for the franchise in the 2025 season.
7. Jofra Archer
The England pacer returns back to the Royals setup after the 2020 season for an amount of INR 12.50 crore. He has scalped 46 wickets for the franchise in 35 games at an economy of 7.13.
If Archer can be fully fit during the season, he could be breaking furnitures of many batters. He might bowl predominantly at the death overs.
8. Wanindu Hasaranga
One of the finest all-rounders in world cricket, Wanindu Hasaranga was bought by Rajasthan Royals for an amount of INR 5.25 crore. In 200 T20s, Hasaranga has 287 wickets to his name at a terrific economy of 6.90.
Along with serving as a key partnership breaker, Hasaranga will look to contribute with the bat fo the side in the latter part of their innings. The ace spinner scalped 26 wickets in 16 games in the IPL 2023 season for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
9. Maheesh Theekshana
The pai of Maheesh Theekshana and Hasaranga could be too much to handle for the opposition. With many variations like carrom ball, off-spin, and googlies up his sleeve, Theekshana could be a vital player for the Rajasthan Royals side.
Theekshana has scalped 189 wickets in 178 games, with a miserly economy of 6.69. He would look to support Hasaranga by picking consistent wickets.
10. Akash Madhwal
The young right-arm pacer stunned the cricket fraternity in the 2023 season. He finished with figures of 5/5 for Mumbai Indians against Lucknow Super Giants. So far, he has bagged 19 wickets in 13 IPL appearances.
11. Sandeep Sharma
The veteran pacer, Sandeep Sharma was one of the six retentions by the Royals. This comes after him proving his skill to swing the ball and capability to keep it tight in the end.
Sandeep picked 13 wickets at an economy of 8.18 to emerge as the best batter for the RR side. He will now look to continue his strong showing, especially in the death overs.
Impact Players: Fazlhaq Farooqi, Tushar Deshpande and Shubham Dubey
FAQs
At what position did RR finish in IPL 2024?
They lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2
What is Sanju Samson’s IPL captaincy record?
In 61 games, he has tasted victory on 31 of them.
