Picking a combined SRH-RR playing 11 with impact sub ahead of IPL 2025 clash ft. Pat Cummins, Jofra Archer

The Rajasthan Royals (RR) will play their first match of IPL 2025 against the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on Sunday, March 23. It is the second game of the season, and the first to have a start time of 3.30 pm IST.

Last year, RR and SRH competed in the Qualifier 2 of the playoffs, where Hyderabad beat Rajasthan to end their campaign. The Royals will be out for revenge when they take the field at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium on March 23.

Before the contest between RR and SRH starts, here's a look at a combined playing XI with an impact sub featuring players from the two IPL 2025 squads.

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Top Order: Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk)

At the moment, it is tough to find a better T20 opening pair than Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma of the SunRisers Hyderabad. Both batters have an aggressive approach, and they played multiple explosive knocks for the Orange Army during the previous IPL season.

SRH fans will expect Head and Sharma to fire all guns blazing in IPL 2025 as well. Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson will bat at number three and keep the wickets for this team. Samson has done an excellent job at this position for RR.

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Middle Order and All-rounders: Ishan Kishan, Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Wanindu Hasaranga

Ishan Kishan has switched from the Mumbai Indians to the SunRisers Hyderabad ahead of IPL 2025. The explosive left-handed batter will don the SRH jersey for the first time in his IPL career, and he should fire all cylinders like Head and Sharma.

All-rounders Riyan Parag, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Wanindu Hasaranga will provide balance to this team. Parag is a reliable middle-order batter and a leg-spin option. He will captain RR in the upcoming IPL 2025 match against SRH.

Hasaranga will play for RR for the first time. He is a leg-spin bowling all-rounder as well, while Nitish Kumar Reddy is a pace-bowling all-rounder. He won the IPL 2024 Emerging Player of the Season award last year.

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Bowlers: Jofra Archer, Pat Cummins, Rahul Chahar and Mohammed Shami

Rajasthan Royals' ace fast bowler Jofra Archer will lead the pace attack along with Sunrisers Hyderabad's skipper Pat Cummins. Both bowlers have done a great job with the ball in IPL. Besides, they can also smack a few big shots with the willow if needed.

Rahul Chahar will lead the spin attack. The leg-spinner will have the support of Wanindu Hasaranga and Riyan Parag in the spin department. Completing this playing XI will be SRH's new recruit, Mohammed Shami. The former Purple Cap winner has a knack for taking wickets. He made his comeback for India earlier this year.

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Impact Sub: Yashasvi Jaiswal/Kumar Kartikeya

The Impact Player will be from the Rajasthan Royals. Depending on whether the team needs an extra batter at the top or an extra spin option, the team can bring in Yashasvi Jaiswal or Kumar Kartikeya.

Jaiswal has been a consistent performer at the top of the order for the Royals. Meanwhile, spin bowler Kartikeya has moved from Mumbai Indians to RR ahead of IPL 2025.