Rajasthan Royals’ Riyan Parag is ready to take the captaincy challenge in the first three matches of the upcoming IPL 2025. Parag will lead in place of Sanju Samson, who will play the first three matches as a pure batter, most likely as an impact player.

This will be the first time when Parag will lead an IPL team. The youngster has the experience of leading Assam in the domestic circuit. The right-hander scored 573 runs in 14 innings at an average of 52.09 and a strike rate of 149.21 and thus he would look to carry the same show in the upcoming season.

Riyan Parag wrote on his Instagram handle, “Big shoes to fill in for the first few games as a leader. Up for this challenge – for @imsanjusamson for @rajasthanroyals.”

Meanwhile, Sanju Samson backed Riyan Parag to deliver the goods for the franchise as a leader.

He said in a video released by RR on X, “I am actually not completely fit for the next three games. So there are lot of leaders in this group from last few years. There have been some great people who have taken care of this environment really nicely. But for the next three games, Riyan will be leading the team. He is very capable to do it. I expect everyone to support him and be with him.”

Samson has struggled against the short ball in the five-match T20I series against England and he would look to bounce back in style.

The inaugural champions will begin their IPL 2025 campaign against the previous season’s runners-up Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, Hyderabad on Sunday.

RR squad for IPL 2025 

Batters: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi.

Wicketkeepers: Sanju Samson, Kunal Rathore, Dhruv Jurel.

All-rounders: Riyan Parag, Wanindu Hasaranga, Nitish Rana, Jofra Archer.

Fast bowlers: Sandeep Sharma, Kwena Maphaka, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Akash Madhwal, Tushar Deshpande, Yudhvir Singh, Ashok Sharma.

Spinners: Maheesh Theekshana, Kumar Kartikeya.