Royals unsure if Samson will play LSG game

Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson is a doubtful starter against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) on Saturday, with the team awaiting scan results on an injury to his side.

"Sanju experienced a bit of pain in the abdominal area," head coach Rahul Dravid said on Friday. "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."

Samson retired hurt on 31 off 19 balls with a suspected side issue during their RR's match, against Delhi Capitals (DC) on Wednesday. He seemed in pain after attempting a cut off Vipraj Nigam following which the physio checked on the left side around his rib. Samson faced the next ball but retired hurt after that. RR went on to tie the match and ended up losing the Super Over.

"It feels alright," Samson told the broadcasters after the match when he was asked about the injury. "I was just not ready to come back and bat here. We'll observe it tomorrow and see how it is."

Samson began IPL 2025 nursing a thumb injury and, for the first three matches, could only function as a batter. In that time, Riyan Parag took charge of RR and is likely to lead them again if needed.

Samson, who was used as an Impact Player in RR's first three games, returned as captain and wicketkeeper after he was cleared by the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. He had undergone finger surgery last month. In his absence, Dhruv Jurel kept wicket.

Under Parag, RR lost their first two games, against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), but bounced back to beat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Guwahati. After winning against Punjab Kings (PBKS), RR lost the next three games and are currently eighth on the points table.

RR have had to get used to a new opening combination and a new spin attack following the mega auction where they lost Jos Buttler, R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal. Dravid didn't think that has affected their performance to a great degree.

"See, it's not like that," he said. "If you see our opening partnership, they have given us quite good performances. Yashasvi [Jaiswal] and Sanju are playing well. Even in the last game, they gave us an explosive start. Unfortunately, Sanju had an injury, and he had to retire hurt. I won't say it was the turning point because we had confidence in the other batters. But definitely, they gave a great partnership.

"As for the other players [Ashwin and Chahal], it happens in every big auction with every team. You don't always get the same team, sometimes you need to make changes, sometimes those changes are forced. Auctions have some rules, and you have to follow them. It's not like a state team, where you just pick the players you want. There are some rules. But we believe that the players we have picked, it's a good team.

"Our Sri Lankan spinners [Wanindu Hasaranga and Maheesh Theekshana] are renowned in the world. It's not like they only play in the subcontinent. They are well established spinners, not some young guys. Sometimes it happens that the team's display can be a bit up-and-down, but we are putting in the effort and working hard. So we hope that we do well going forward."

Dravid did agree that RR needed to work on their execution with the ball in the back end of innings. "We suffered a little bit with our death bowling. We conceded 77 in the last five in the last game. The game earlier, we conceded 72," he said. "I think that is another area for us that we need to get slightly better with, working with slightly more in execution I think our plans have been pretty good. It is just more around the execution of some of those skills.

"Even if, say for example, a 57-60 sort of thing is acceptable in the last five overs, it has become almost a norm now. We seem to go for 72-77. It has been those two-three extra boundaries which I think we need to work on and we need to get better at. But it is more an execution issue. I think the quality is there."

The RR head coach also took ownership of the decisions that the team has been taking this year, including the one to use Sandeep Sharma for the Super Over ahead of Jofra Archer.

"The decisions are being made by me and with Sanju Samson being an integral part of that and in consultation with our other coaches and our analyst team," Dravid said. "No one claims that every decision that even experts make works out and is correct. But I respect the fact, and I am very confident of the team that I have around me that is supporting me and Sanju in making these decisions.

"With regards to the specific one on Jofra and Sandeep, Sandeep is someone that we trust. He has been bowling some fantastic overs for us. He has bowled all the difficult overs for us in this tournament. And we completely back him and support him and we felt he was the right bowler for us on that wicket in those conditions with the skills that he has."