IPL 2025: RR wins toss, elect to bowl first against SRH
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Hyderabad: In Sunday's second Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Rajasthan Royals (RR) stand-in skipper Riyan Parag won the toss and chose to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Parag will captain RR for the first three games, with regular captain Sanju Samson only available as a specialist batter during that time.
"Bowling first. Looks like a dry wicket so we'll have a crack at it later. (On captaincy) Means a lot, started here as a 17-year-old. Getting to fill in big shoes, very excited. The impact rule helps with Sanju. We've retained a lot of our core so that helps with the batting order. The other three overseas will be Theekshana, Jofra and Farooqi. Always good to start well, we have practised a lot," Parag said at the toss.
On the other hand, SRH captain Pat Cummins expressed confidence in his team to build on last year's momentum. Ishan Kishan and Abhinav Manohar are making their SRH debuts.
"It is great to be back. The core of the group is the same, the coaching staff is the same. Don't think batting or bowling first matters. It is pretty hot, so don't mind bowling second. Would be nice to keep last season's form going. We always encourage our games to play with freedom. Abhi and Heady with hopefully continue from last year, and Nitish and Klassen will be there as well. Ishan Kishan and Abhinav Manohar will be making their debuts," he said.
Playing XIs
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubham Dubey, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag (c), Dhruv Jurel (w), Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Impact Substitutes: Sanju Samson, Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Kwena Maphaka
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (w), Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (c), Simarjeet Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami.
Impact Substitutes: Sachin Baby, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari, Adam Zampa, Wiaan Mulder.
With inputs from IANS