3 RR players who are not in form heading into IPL 2025 ft. Sanju Samson

Inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals will play their first match of IPL 2025 against Pat Cummins-led SunRisers Hyderabad on March 23. The Royals have assembled a stellar squad for the upcoming IPL season by signing the likes of Jofra Archer, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Nitish Rana, Tushar Deshpande, and Maheesh Theekshana at the mega auction.

RR started brilliantly in the previous IPL cycle. They reached the final in 2022, losing to Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

IPL 2025 will also be the first season after a mega auction, and RR will look to go all the way and win their second championship. While RR's squad looks excellent on paper, the following three players are not in the best of touch heading into the new IPL season.

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#1 Sanju Samson

Rajasthan Royals' biggest concern in IPL 2025 will be the form of their, Sanju Samson. He could not get going with the willow in the home T20I series against England earlier this year. Samson opened the batting in all five matches and got out in single digits thrice.

Samson did not have a great run in domestic cricket before that. He only managed one half-century in his last five innings for Kerala in the T20 format. Moreover, Samson recently had a finger surgery, which kept him away from the field for some time. It will be interesting to see how the Rajasthan Royals captain performs in IPL 2025.

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#2 Nitish Rana

Former Kolkata Knight Riders batter Nitish Rana has moved to the Rajasthan Royals ahead of IPL 2025. Looking at RR's squad, it seems clear that the team management will expect a lot from Rana in the middle order.

While Rana did a fantastic job for the Kolkata Knight Riders, his recent performances have not been up to the mark. He hasn't scored a half-century in his last 10 matches across formats. His highest score has been 20*, which came in a T20 against Manipur in Mumbai.

Rana has been working hard in the nets videos posted by Rajasthan Royals. RR fans will hope that the southpaw returns to form in IPL 2025.

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#3 Jofra Archer

Jofra Archer won the IPL MVP award while playing for the Rajasthan Royals in 2020. Although RR finished last in the standings that year, Archer's performance was extraordinary in both departments.

Since then, Archer has dealt with multiple injuries, and his performances have not been the same. In the last 10 matches, Archer has leaked runs at an expensive economy rate. He gave away 60 runs in a T20I against India in Chennai, while he also conceded 82 runs in an ODI against Australia in the 2025 Champions Trophy.

To make things worse, Archer does not have a single four-wicket haul or five-wicket haul in his last 10 outings. The Rajasthan Royals team management might be concerned about Archer's form.