IPL 2025: Rajasthan Royals win toss, opt to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad

TELANGANA : Rajasthan Royals stand-in captain Riyan Parag won the toss and elected to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the second clash of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday.

Both the teams are playing this match with three foreign players in their playing XI.

“Bowling first. It looks like a dry wicket, so we’ll have a crack at it later. (On captaincy) It means a lot, I 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, which 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,” Riyan Parag said after winning the toss.

Suriesers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins said that batting or bowling first on this pitch doesn’t matter.

“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 are there as well. Ishan Kishan and Abhinav Manohar will be making their debuts,” Pat Cummins said.

Teams:

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubham Dubey, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag (c), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi.

Rajasthan Royals Impact Subs: Sanju Samson, Kunal Singh Rathore, Akash Madhwal, Kumar Kartikeya, Kwena Maphaka

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Aniket Verma, Abhinav Manohar, Pat Cummins (c), Simarjeet Singh, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Shami

Sunrisers Hyderabad Impact Subs: Sachin Baby, Jaydev Unadkat, Zeeshan Ansari, Adam Zampa, Wiaan Mulder. (ANI)