Since winning the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League, Rajasthan Royals’ search for the second silverware has continued. the Sanju Samson-led side, begin their IPL 2024 campaign with an epic clash against Lucknow Super Giants at their home turf. Samson won the toss ahead of the RR vs LSG clash and chose to bat.
Revealing how his side have lined up, Samson revealed that India youngster Riyan Parag had made his way into the starting XI of the game. The youngster is set to bat at number 4 followed by the likes of Shimron Hetmyer and Dhruv Jurel. Samson, who generally takes a spot in the middle order, batting at number 5 or 6 in the India setup has moved up the order to bat at number 3.
Comfort over competition for Sanju Samson
Samson topped every batting stat as a middle-order batsman in the last 4 years. Sanju Samson is the highest run-getter among batters at number 3 in IPL since 2015 The batter has scored 2231 runs from 67 innings at a SR of 145.1.
While batting at number 3 seems to be a comfortable position for Samson, with T20 WC at the helm and IPL 2024 serving as the major test for the selection process batting at his regular position might have added a boost to his cause.
RR’s middle-order woes:
However, If there is one thing the Rajasthan Royals would like to improve this season, the erratic performance of their middle order, which lost them several games last season.
This region has long been vulnerable for the Sanju Samson-led side. The Royals will seek to close the deficit with Shimron Hetymer, Dhruv Jurel, and Riyan Parag in the centre. Rovman Powell is, nevertheless, anticipated to play as an Impact player.
Rajasthan Royals Playing XI:
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan, Trent Boult, Yuzvendra Chahal
