Rajasthan Royals (RR) have had to reshuffle their Indian Premier League (IPL) squad, like every other team. While others may have ended up with good sides, RR hasn’t been able to assemble a team that was as strong as they had last year.
The core has remained the same. They retained Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, and Sandeep Sharma before the IPL 2025 mega auction. He got some good buys in Jeddah, but there are other areas of concern as well.
Strengths & Opportunities: Top & middle order set & plethora of pacers
RR has a strong top order with Samson, Jaiswal, Nitish Rana, and Vaibhav Suryavanshi present. Barring the 14-year-old, they have proven players. You don’t need to talk much about Samson or Jaiswal. They might be the most dangerous opening duo, alongside Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma.
Nitish has come from Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and has a solid record. He has leadership qualities as well, having captained KKR for the entire IPL 2023 season. As for Suryavanshi, one can’t gauge how good he is until he’s played in the league. With Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, and Shubham Dubey there, the middle and lower middle order is covered as well.
RR probably has the most fast bowling options of any IPL team. They have 8 pacers, including three overseas quicks: Jofra Archer, Fazalhaq Farooqi, and Kwena Maphaka. They are options for the powerplay, death, and middle overs. Yudhvir Singh and Ashok Sharma will be the ones who can bowl quickly, alongside Maphaka and Archer.
Sandeep and Farooqi will be good with the new ball. While Tushar Deshpande and Akash Madhwal will do well in the 7-15 overs. Sandeep bowls well in the death as well.
Weaknesses & Threats: Lack of spin options & all-rounders
RR has just three spinners: Riyan Parag, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Maheesh Theekshana. Of these, one is a part-timer: Parag. That’s some downgrade from Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Hasaranga didn’t play last year, and apart from a great IPL 2023 season, he doesn’t have much to show for it. Theekshana has been hit-or-miss for the last two years as well. Nitish Rana can bowl a little as well, but he isn’t that handy. In fairness, neither is Parag.
RR has just one proper all-rounder, and that’s Hasaranga. The Sri Lankan has talent but hasn’t yet been able to crack both at the same time in international cricket or IPL. Calling either Parag or Nitish an all-rounder is a bit of a stretch. But that’s all Sanju Samson and Rahul Dravid have got.
Rajasthan Royals squad for IPL 2025
Batters: Sanju Samson (c & wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shimron Hetmyer
, Nitish Rana, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Kunal Rathore
All-rounders: Riyan Parag, Wanindu Hasaranga
Bowlers: Sandeep Sharma, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kwena Maphaka, Akash Madhwal, Yudhvir Singh, Kumar Kartikeya, Ashok Sharma
