Riyan Parag will captain Rajasthan Royals in the first three matches in IPL 2025. Although the team is officially captained by Sanju Samson, the star wicketkeeper-batsman will not be the captain of the franchise for the first three matches.

IPL 2025 is going to start from March 22. The first match will be played between defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Fans are also ready for the thrill. Although the command of Rajasthan Royals is officially in the hands of Sanju Samson, the star wicketkeeper-batsman will not be the captain of the franchise for the first three matches. During this, Riyan Parag will take over the command of the franchise. 23-year-old Riyan will create history as soon as he plays in the first match.

Riyan ready to create history

Riyan Parag will captain Rajasthan Royals at the age of 23 years and 136 days. In this way, he will become the youngest captain of this franchise in IPL history. He will break the record of Steve Smith, who captained the franchise at the age of 24 years and 347 days. Parag will also become the fourth youngest captain in IPL history after Virat Kohli, Steve Smith and Suresh Raina.

Youngest captain to make captaincy debut in IPL

Virat Kohli (Royal Challengers Bangalore) - 22 years and 187 days
Steve Smith (Pune Warriors India) - 22 years 344 days
Suresh Raina (Chennai Super Kings) - 23 years 112 days
Riyan Parag (Rajasthan Royals) - 23 years 136 days
Shreyas Iyer (Delhi Capitals) - 23 years 142 days

Why is Samson not captaining?

Sanju Samson is currently recovering from a finger injury. He is yet to be cleared for wicketkeeping. Therefore, he will not be available to take the field for Rajasthan Royals in the first three matches of IPL 2025. The franchise has confirmed that he will only play as a batsman and will play as an impact player. Therefore, he cannot captain the team during this time. The franchise officially said in a release, 'The decision by Rajasthan Royals to hand over the captaincy to Riyan reflects the franchise's confidence in his leadership. A skill he has demonstrated during his tenure as Assam's domestic captain.'