Sanju Samson made the ultimate sacrifice | courtesy - BCCI/IPL
KEY HIGHLIGHTS
- Sanju Samson made the ultimate sacrifice
- Samson made a comeback to RR's playing XI
- Samson missed five games due to injury
The 2025 Indian Premier League's (IPL) restart has brought good news from Rajasthan Royals (RR) fans after skipper Sanju Samson returned to the playing XI after missing the franchise's last five games this season due to an injury in which Riyan Parag led the side.
Samson revealed he will bat at a new batting position when the Royals walk out to chase the total against Punjab Kings (PBKS) on Sunday (May 18) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Shreyas Iyer won the toss and chose to bat in the first match of both teams post the league's resumption.
Sanju Samson's Golden Gesture For Vaibhav Suryavanshi
However, the Royals skipper revealed that he will not open the batting. In RR's first seven matches of the season, Samson opened the batting with Yashasvi Jaiswal, following his incredible success for Team India in that position. Samson scored three T20I tons in 2024 after the Suryakumar Yadav-led side promoted him to open the batting.
Before his injury, Samson made 224 runs in seven innings with one half-century to his name.
At the toss, the RR skipper revealed he wants 14-year-old sensation Vaibhav Suryavanshi to continue opening the batting. Suryavanshi replaced Samson in the playing XI and made 155 runs in five games at a strike-rate of 209.45. This includes his heroic effort against the Gujarat Titans (GT) where he scored a 35-ball century. This made the youngest centurion in IPL history as well as the second-fastest player (fastest Indan) to hit a ton after Chris Gayle.
"I think if someone has done something extraordinary, you have to respect that no matter his age. Definitely would like to respect that, and I will come down the order,” said Samson at the toss.
RR have played 12 matches in the 2025 IPL and has just three wins. They are 9th in the table and have no chance of making the playoffs.
Samson had replaced Kunal Singh Rathod in the playing XI, who had taken the place of Nitish Rana in their previous match against KKR. Nitish has been ruled out of the tournament and replaced by South African batter Lhuan-dre Pretorius in the squad.
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