IPL 2025: 5 Domestic players who can make a difference for Rajasthan Royals

In this article, we take a look at the five domestic players who can make a difference for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) this coming season. 

In recent years, the Royals have been one of the most consistent teams in the league. They finished third in the league standings last season and made it to Qualifier 2. However, with a new-look side and a revamped bowling attack this time round, will they be able to maintain their consistency? 

Nitish Rana

After spending seven seasons with the Kolkata Knight Riders, where he was one of their most consistent batters, getting past the 300-run mark every single season except last year as he struggled with injury, Rana is now with the Royals following a INR 4.2-crore purchase in the 2025 mega auction. 

Looking at the current composition of the Royals squad, the 31-year-old left-hander will most likely slot in at #3, though since IPL 2024 he hasn’t been in the best of form. He averaged just 13 in the UP T20 League and followed it with up a similar showing in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT).

Looking at their small squad and lack of backup options, it will be crucial for the Royals that Rana returns to his previous best. 

Sandeep Sharma

There aren’t many bowlers in world cricket at the moment who can bowl as effectively as Sandeep Sharma does during the death overs. To consistently bowl in the crucial slog overs and go at less than nine runs per over across two IPL seasons is a big achievement. Thus, it wasn’t really a surprise when the Royals retained their premium death-overs bowler ahead of the 2025 mega auction. 

Although Jofra Archer is the big-name player, given his injury issues and lack of experience in the IPL, there’s no doubt Sharma will be the lead bowler for the Royals. Moreover, despite not picking up wickets as regularly as one would like, his ability to restrict batters means the other bowlers alongside him are likely to end up picking those wickets.

Given their fragile bowling department, Sharma will have to be at his best for the Royals to make any in-roads this season. 

Akash Madhwal

Following his breakthrough season with the Mumbai Indians in the 2023 IPL season, where he picked up 14 wickets in just eight innings and helped Rohit Sharma’s team make the playoffs, the 31-year-old seamer from Uttarakhand has gone off the boil in recent times. Madhwal struggled from game time in Hardik Pandya’s first season in charge of the MI, playing just five games and picking up as many wickets with an economy rate of more than 11. 

In the SMAT this time round, Madhwal looked in decent form, grabbing eight wickets in five innings and going at just under nine runs per over. With Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, and Jofra Archer as guaranteed starters, the Royals’ fourth overseas player will most likely be Maheesh Theekshana. This means it’ll mostly be Impact Sub appearances for Madhwal, at least during the first leg of the season, unless he can make room for himself in the playing XI alongside or in place of Sandeep Sharma or Tushar Deshpande.

Tushar Deshpande

Tushar Deshpande, in the last two editions, was without a doubt the Chennai Super Kings’ best seamer. The 29-year-old from Mumbai bagged 17 wickets last season, going at 8.83 runs per over despite bowling the crucial death overs. Moreover, his skillset and efficiency mean he can even make the new ball talk, making him a crucial bowler for any IPL franchise. 

As fitness issues kept Deshpande out of action during both the SMAT and the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT), getting him back to full fitness and match sharpness will be key if the Royals are to challenge for the playoff spots, especially looking at their thin squad and relatively inexperienced bowling attack. 

Riyan Parag

The 23-year-old batter from Assam finally had his breakthrough season with the Rajasthan Royals last season. After five seasons of unfulfilled potential and missed opportunities, Parag came good last season, scoring 573 runs and finishing third in the Orange Cap race behind Virat Kohli and Ruturaj Gaikwad. 

More than the runs, it was the manner in which those runs were scored, as Parag pulled the team out of some difficult situations with maturity and composure far beyond his years.

Given that the current Royals squad looks much thinner compared to any other IPL edition, there will be added responsibility on Parag’s shoulders to come good and prove everyone who believe last season was a fluke wrong.