Heading into IPL 2025, Rajasthan Royals are facing a significantly different bowling attack compared to last year, with several key players having moved to other teams. Full-time captain Sanju Samson acknowledges the challenge ahead but is confident that his young players will rise to the occasion and "prove what they're made of."

While the Royals still have Sandeep Sharma in their lineup, they've lost big names like R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Trent Boult. On the batting side, there’s a major gap too, with Jos Buttler joining Gujarat Titans after not being retained—a decision that Samson recently admitted was a difficult one.

Talking about the new look of the squad ahead of his team's season-opener, Samson said: "To be honest, that's the challenge IPL has thrown at me. Last three years, I was surrounded by some of the best cricketers the world has ever seen. Now I'm surrounded by [some of the] younger players in IPL. [We are] looking at it in a positive manner. The youngsters have a lot of fire in them, they want to prove to the world what they're made of."

"We have to let go of the past, forget what happened, forget the quality of players we had," Samson said. "They're different players, different line-ups. We've got to go with a fresh pair of eyes and thinking. You can't say 'last year we had them, did this or did that'.

"I'm a type of captain who trusts the bowlers. They need to tell me their strength and what they want to bowl. It's a mixture of my experience and their thinking coming together and them finding the right way to go ahead. After playing a few games, we will understand their strengths and weaknesses."

Samson emphasized the importance of quickly moving on and focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of the squad's new players. This year, their bowling attack features Jofra Archer, who will be making his first appearance for the Royals since 2020-21, and Maheesh Theekshana. They’ll also rely on a group of talented Indian bowlers, including Akash Madhwal, Tushar Deshpande, and Kumar Kartikeya.