New Delhi: Rajasthan Royals (RR) missed the services of regular captain Sanju Samson in their first match of IPL 2025 against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) played at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Sunday. Although the Indian wicketkeeper-batter was part of the substitute list for the team, he wasn’t part of the playing XI.
Indian youngster Riyan Parag was seen leading the team into the field after winning the toss and elected to field first. Ahead of the start of the IPL season, Samson joined the Royals squad in Guwahati for the training session. He came into the camp after a successful surgery on his finger.
During the fifth T20 International match against England, Samson was hit on his right index finger by a nearly 150kmph delivery from pace bowler Jofra Archer, who incidentally is also part of Rajasthan Royals squad this season.
In a meeting before the IPL season, Samson mentioned that he won’t be available to play completely as a player as he was yet to receive clearance from the BCCI medical team, which means he couldn’t keep the wickets. Samson mentioned that for the first three IPL matches he will only play purely as a batter. In the same announcement, he said that Riyan will be leading the team.
Will Samson bat against SRH?
Samson might bat for Rajasthan in the second innings against SRH on the basis of the impact player substitute rule in the IPL. Indian wicket-keeper Dhuv Jurel donned the gloves behind the wickets in the absence of Samson.
Rajasthan played Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubham Dubey, Nitish Rana as their top order batters while regular player Shimron Hetmyer will play in the middle order along with Jurel and Riyan. Jorfra Archer, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Tushar Deshpande and Sandeep Sharma were the frontline pacers for the team with Maheesh Theekshana as the lone spinner.
Sanju Samson wasn’t part of Rajasthan Royals playing XI in their IPL 2025 opener against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Riyan Parag captained in his place, with Dhuv Jurel keeping wickets. Cricket Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
