Sunrisers Hyderabad just missed out on the final hurdle in last year's IPL and will be keen to go one better this time around and have the entire arsenal to do that. If the Orange Army wasn't able to breach the 300 mark last time around, they have added some more power to their attack to have the potential to blow away the teams even before the start of the second innings. With the addition of Ishan Kishan and the likes of Mohammed Shami and Harshal Patel, the line-up looks even more rounded and balanced.
Rajasthan Royals, on the other hand, will be talked about who is not in the squad rather than who is because of the hole his absence has created - Jos Buttler. Despite not recovering from his injury fully, Sanju Samson will have to play as an impact player to give the important runs at the top in Buttler's absence. The Royals decided to retain their Indian batting core and surprisingly didn't even go after an overseas batting backup with Shimron Hetmyer being the only option.
The Royals have a variety in their pace attack but with Jofra Archer not hitting his straps since his return and the form for the likes of Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana being a little iffy, there are a lot more questions over the Men in Pink this time around than last year. RR have a new coach in Rahul Dravid, who injured himself playing with his son in Bengaluru, but having had a title in his kitty as India coach, there are hope from this Royals squad but they will face their toughest test in the opener itself against the marauding monsters.
My Dream11 team for IPL 2025 Match 2, SRH vs RR
Ishan Kishan, Travis Head, Heinrich Klaasen (c), Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Nitish Reddy, Abhinav Manohar, Wanindu Hasaranga, Adam Zampa, Mohammed Shami, Sandeep Sharma (vc)
Probable Playing XIIs
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan (wk), Nitish Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen, Abhinav Manohar, Sachin Baby/Aniket Verma, Pat Cummins (c), Harshal Patel, Adam Zampa, Mohammed Shami, Rahul Chahar/Jaydev Unadkat
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag (c), Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Shubham Dubey, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Fazalhaq Farooqi