Samson backs himself to lead Royals youngsters to IPL glory

Just when Rajasthan Royals (RR) were gaining some momentum with two wins over the past week in IPL 2025, their 58-run defeat at the hands of Gujarat Titans (GT) exposed some frailties in their line-up. The squad wears a younger look than occasions in the past, especially among the batters, but captain Sanju Samson believes there is enough experience to do the job for the franchise.

"I feel, yes, this time we have a much younger side but there are lots of positives about it," Samson said. "I think they look very young on the age front, but if you look at their match experience, I think most of them have played a lot of international cricket and they have played reasonable amount of IPL also. I don't think they are young in cricketing aspect."

Despite backing the likes of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag and Shubham Dubey to come into their own in the remaining games, Samson said the new-look XII needs him to play a different role this season, unlike his game for the India T20I side. He also said Rahul Dravid was the perfect head coach for the youngsters to work with.

"My role definitely has changed," Samson said. "It definitely changes in every team you play. When I play for the India team, we are batting deep and we are expected to go hard from ball one. But here our team combination is such where we need to actually play a different kind of role.

"I think I am experienced enough to do that as well. And I think I am also experienced enough to take care of a young unit. I think we are definitely in the right hands with Rahul sir being there."

Samson did not rule out making tough calls like changing the make-up of his team, if needed. He said the bench players were good enough to play if the team's balance or others' poor form forced his hand.

"We have taken them to give them a chance," Samson said. "Eventually, the franchise owner wants to build a team which can win the trophy. They want you eventually to be the champion. Whether you play juniors, inexperienced players, experienced players. So definitely we play to win. No matter how big or small the players are, definitely they all are in the team to win every game we play. And that's what we want to do.

"I think we have gone past the starting stage of the tournament. Now I think it's the business end. And we need to actually win most number of games. And that will happen if we keep believing in ourselves and keep doing what we are known to do."

Samson confirmed that wristspinner Wanindu Hasaranga, who had gone home for personal reasons last week, has joined the squad and would be available against his former team Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Sunday. He also agreed the team needed to complete their quota of overs quicker to avoid being pulled up for a slow over-rate a third time.

"We played four fast bowlers in the last match. It's a bit challenging for us, but we will bowl as fast as we can.