Sanju Samson shocked everyone on Thursday. In a team meeting at Jaipur camp, the Rajasthan Royals (RR) superstar clarified his diminished role this season. Samson, who has been the leader of the franchise for multiple seasons, won’t captain RR in the initial games. In fact, for the first three IPL 2025 matches, RR’s captain will be Riyan Parag, with Samson’s role only being of a batter.
While this will indeed be a huge moment for Parag, where does the move take Rajasthan and Samson himself? Samson suffered a fractured finger after his own RR teammate Jofra Archer dashed in a short-pitched delivery during a T20 international last month. Samson underwent surgery soon and even got clearance from the NCA to play IPL 2025.
Injured Sanju Samson for IPL 2025
However, he is yet to receive a full allowance to keep wickets as well. He expects to get it in the first week of April. Unit then, Samson won’t take the field but will only come as an Impact Player for the Royals. This means, you won’t find Samson’s name in the RR team sheet when they bowl first. If they bat first, Samson will be subbed out in the second innings. Luckily, RR have Dhruv Jurel with them, who’s a proper keeper and will slot in as a finisher too.
But one question remains: Which RR player will sub out Sanju Samson in the RR playing XI? Well, the answer is simple. If RR bat first, they would sub out Samson in place of a specialist bowler. That option could be anyone of Tushar Deshpande, Akash Madhwal, Sandeep Sharma or Yudhvir Singh Charak. Well, it could also be Kumar Kartikeya if the conditions are too spin-friendly.
Sandeep Sharma ideal choice to replace RR skipper
If we look closely, Sandeep Sharma is the ideal choice to replace Samson as an Impact Player. Even last year, RR used to use him as an Impact player. While Deshpande is likely to start as another Indian pacer, his batting is far better than Sandeep Sharma. Deshpande has a first-class hundred as well and RR could use him as a tailend option too. This means Sandeep won’t be in the starting XI when RR bat first.
He would swap with Samson once the second innings starts. RR have invested in Sandeep, who will play his third consecutive season for the inaugural champs. In 23 matches for RR, Sandeep has as many wickets. However, his economy of 8.42 is a huge sign why RR have instilled faith in him. Sandeep, who started his career, as a swing bowler, has developed himself as a proper death specialist. His slower balls and accurate yorkers mean RR have one end of death bowling sorted.
Sandeep Sharma stats at death overs
| Inns | Overs | Runs | Wkts | Econ | Avg | SR | BBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 | 28.5 | 281 | 15 | 9.75 | 18.73 | 11.53 | 3/3 |
Rajasthan Royals (bowling 1st) Playing XI without Sanju Samson
| S. No. | Player |
|---|---|
| 1 | Yashasvi Jaiswal |
| 2 | Nitish Rana |
| 3 | Riyan Parag (C) |
| 4 | Dhruv Jurel (wk) |
| 5 | Shimron Hetmyer (O) |
| 6 | Shubham Dubey |
| 7 | Wanindu Hasaranga (O) |
| 8 | Jofra Archer (O) |
| 9 | Maheesh Theekshana (O) |
| 10 | Tushar Deshpande |
| 11 | Sandeep Sharma |
