IPL 2025: Chennai test for Rajasthan Royals' resilience in spin-friendly Guwahati

Rajasthan Royals will be hoping to wrap up their assignments in their second 'home' on a positive note and look to put behind the nightmarish start to the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, when they host an equally bruised Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the ACA Stadium here on Sunday.

- TRIDIB BAPARNASH

Having started the tournament with two consecutive losses, local favourite and stand-in skipper Riyan Parag will be hoping that the Royals open their account before he passes the baton to regular captain Sanju Samson, who is set to take over after recovering from an injury. Samson has so far played as an Impact substitute in the tournament. Elevated in the batting order, Riyan has now got the responsibility setting the pace at No. 3, as against No. 4 where he had much success last year. He has scores of 4 and 25 in his first two outings, and the match against CSK offers him a perfect opportunity to impress his home crowd. With Yashasvi Jaiswal yet to hit peak form, the onus will be on the home boy to take the attack to the opposition, and give RR a blazing start at the top of the order.

There were also questions raised on Shimron Hetmyer's batting position, and whether he's batting too low but RR's spin-bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule had defended the call of sending the Impact substitute Shubham Dube ahead of the West Indies star for his spin-hitting prowess.