Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be without their captain, Sanju Samson, for today’s IPL 2025 match against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. In his place, Riyan Parag will take over the captaincy. Samson sustained a rib injury while batting in RR’s previous IPL 2025 encounter against Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 16 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.
He retired hurt after scoring 31 runs off 19 balls, which included two fours and three sixes. In the sixth over of RR’s innings, Samson tried to cut a delivery from Vipraj Nigam, signaling for the physio after the attempt. He faced one more ball before retiring hurt.
Ahead of the RR vs LSG match, head coach Rahul Dravid confirmed there was no clarity on Samson’s availability for the game. He stated:
“Sanju experienced a bit of pain in the abdominal area. He has done some scans today so we are waiting the results of those scans. And then once we get a bit more clarity around the scans and the severity of [the injury] we’ll take a decision going forward and we’ll see what happens.”
After Rajasthan’s defeat in the Super Over against Delhi at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Sanju Samson shared his thoughts with the host broadcaster:
“It feels alright. I was just not ready to come back and bat here. We’ll observe it tomorrow and see how it is.”
Previously, the wicketkeeper-batter featured as an Impact Player in Rajasthan’s first three matches. After undergoing finger surgery last month, he was not cleared by the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru to play as a keeper-batter. During his absence behind the stumps, Dhruv Jurel filled in as the wicketkeeper.
Sanju Samson’s batting performance in IPL 2025
In seven innings during IPL 2025, Samson has accumulated 224 runs at an average of 37.33 and a strike rate of 143.58, including one half-century. The 30-year-old started his campaign with an impressive 66 off 37 balls in Rajasthan’s opening match against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium, hitting seven fours and four sixes.
Following a couple of modest scores, the RR captain contributed 38 off 26 balls against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Mullanpur and 41 off 28 balls against Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. He was on track for another strong performance against Delhi Capitals (DC) before being forced to retire hurt.
Get the latest cricket news here, like us on Facebook, and follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more such updates.
