SRH vs RR Match Prediction: Who will win today's IPL 2025 match?

In Qualifier 2 last year, the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR) battled it out without realizing that the title was always going to fall in the hands of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). As soon as Match 2 in the 2025 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the two teams will have a chance to start building towards a different scenario this time around.

SRH and RR will lock horns at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, which produced a truckload of runs last year. Both franchises were happy to keep hold of as many of their core players as possible, and that means plenty of power in the batting units. However, what that also means is that they didn't have enough resources to build formidable all-round rosters.

SRH and RR have concerns over their batting depth, and with them expected to use overseas slots on frontline bowling options, it's clear that they aren't as well-rounded as they'd like to be. A level playing field should be on the cards in the first match of a doubleheader Sunday.

SRH's squad for IPL 2025: Travis Head, Abhinav Manohar, Aniket Verma, Sachin Baby, Heinrich Klaasen, Ishan Kishan, Atharva Taide, Abhishek Sharma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kamindu Mendis, Adam Zampa, Rahul Chahar, Zeeshan Ansari, Mohammed Shami, Pat Cummins, Harshal Patel, Simarjeet Singh, Jaydev Unadkat, Wiaan Mulder, Eshan Malinga.

RR's squad for IPL 2025: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer, Shubham Dubey, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Sanju Samson, Dhruv Jurel, Kunal Singh Rathore, Riyan Parag, Nitish Rana, Yudhvir Singh, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Kumar Kartikeya, Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Madhwal, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kwena Maphaka, Ashok Sharma.

Which team can get off to a winning start in IPL 2025?

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IPL 2025: New-look SRH seek old form against RR

2024 IPL Final - Kolkata Knight Riders v Sunrisers Hyderabad - Source: Getty

For RR, the key to victory will be to kill the game in the powerplay by using early movement to trouble Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma. Abhishek countered Jofra Archer well in a recent T20I series, but the English pacer can dismiss any batter on his day.

If the Royals can secure a couple of powerplay wickets, they will be able to expose the weak underbelly of the SRH side. The Orange Army don't have enough depth and experience in the batting unit, and while their six-hitting pedigree is second to none, it'll be hard for them to be as confident with their fiery approach.

RR have similar concerns, but their batting unit has more stability while retaining consistency. It's also arguable that they have a more settled bowling unit, with Mohammed Shami being far from his best and Pat Cummins only just returning from an injury for their opponents.

SRH, given their form last year and home venue advantage, could be the favorites for this encounter on paper. But RR cannot be brushed aside lightly and could be primed to pull off an upset to start the season. It must be said, though, that it's hard to predict the outcome of any game so early in the campaign without knowing what combinations teams are going to play and what form their players are going to be in.

Prediction: RR to win Match 2 of IPL 2025.