The Rajasthan Royals team notched their first win of the IPL 2025 as they beat five-time champions Chennai Super Kings in Guwahati on Sunday. The 2008 IPL champions are known as a side who always punches above its weight and it has reflected in their game too. While Jaipur is RR's first-choice home ground, this year the side has chosen Guwahati as its second home-ground. There was no shortage of support for RR in Guwahati, especially with home boy Riyan Parag leading the side in the initial matches.
Bollywood actor Malaika Arora was also present in Guwahati in RR jersey watching the game against Chennai Super Kings. She saw the game with RR Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara. Social media users were surprised to see her in RR colours.
Malaika Arora after yesterday's win to me in my dreams: ‘I am a huge fan of Rajasthan Royals, especially Sanju Samson—he is one of my favorite players from Rajasthan. I have been supporting them since 2008. It was a really good way to start the tournament by beating CSK. All the… pic.twitter.com/NjqFHD6Ukc
— Chinmay Shah (@chinmayshah28) March 30, 2025
Malaika Arora Spotted with former Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara supporting RR at IPL 2025 #MalaikaArora #IPL2025 #Cricketer #KumarSangakkara #Spotted #IPL pic.twitter.com/SyPWcBQVTi
— Masala! (@masalauae) March 31, 2025
Malaika Arora in RR ???! pic.twitter.com/n1jbfZFoiL
— Shubh (@kadaipaneeeer) March 30, 2025
Meanwhile, RR's regular skipper Sanju Samson lew to Bengaluru from Guwahati on Monday to seek clearance from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Centre of Excellence (CoE) for keeping wickets in the ongoing IPL 2025 season.
Samson has so far played in the tournament as a sole batter coming in as an impact substitute with Riyan Parag leading the franchise. The wicketkeeper-batter was only granted a temporary go-ahead to play in the ongoing IPL following surgery on his right index finger.
"Now, he will undergo testing by the Sport Science wing at the CoE and request approval to resume his full duties. If granted permission to keep wickets, Sanju will also return as skipper," Cricbuzz reported.
Samson handed over the captaincy to Parag for the first three matches of the season after confirming his participation as a pure batter for the said duration. With his thumb injury healed fully, Samson is expected to don the wicketkeeping gloves and return as captain in Rajasthan's next game.
"He will seek clearance to do so for the remaining games and is expected to be back as skipper from the RR's next match, which is nearly a week away," the report quoted a source as saying.
Samson has accumulated scores of 66 (against SRH), 13 (against KKR), and 20 (against CSK) in the three matches he's played so far. In his absence, Dhruv Jurel has taken over the wicketkeeping responsibilities for the team.
The Royals have had a mixed start to their IPL campaign, suffering defeats in their first two matches before securing a win against Chennai Super Kings in Guwahati on Sunday night.
Their next match will be an away fixture against Punjab Kings on April 5, followed by another away game against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on April 9. The team will then return to their home base in Jaipur, where they will face Royal Challengers Bengaluru on April 13.
With IANS inputs
