Samson had announced the news to the Rajasthan Royals squad last week
Sanju Samson is in the playing XI for Rajasthan Royals in the clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad – the second match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 – but the Kerala keeper-batter is not the captain of the side.
Assam youngster Riyan Parag has been given the reins for the first three games of the new IPL season by the team. An announcement was made to the team by Samson himself last Thursday during a meeting.
The reason behind the decision is quite simple as Samson explained that he is not fully fit. He is yet to be cleared by the BCCI medical team at the Centre of Excellence (Formerly National Cricket Academy) in Bengaluru to keep wickets. He will be in the team purely as a batter.
“I am not completely fit for the next three games. There are a lot of leaders in this group. In the last few years, some great people have taken care of this environment really nicely. For the next three games, Riyan will be leading the team. He is capable of doing it. I expect everyone to support him and be with him,” Sanju Samson had said in the meeting, a video which was posted by Rajasthan Royals.
Samson had just recovered from a finger injury which he suffered during the T20I series against England last month. The injury required him to undergo surgery. Riyan Parag, stand-in skipper, confirmed that Samson would be the impact player.
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Samson has been leading Rajasthan Royals since 2021 and has led them to the playoffs on two occasions and to the IPL final in 2022.
Parag is not new to captaincy despite being just 23 years old. He had recently led his state side in the Ranji Trophy 2024-25 season. He has also led Assam in 17 T20s in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2021 and 2023.
Rajasthan Royals will not have Jos Buttler in their ranks this time and will most likely open with Samson and Yashasvi Jaiswal who have done the same for India across different formats.
Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabad had last met in the Qualifier 2 of IPL 2024 where Pat Cummins’ side beat RR by a margin of 36 runs.
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