Samson set to miss RR's game against LSG; Parag to lead again
Riyan Parag is set to stand-in once again as Rajasthan Royals captain
ESPNcricinfo staff
19-Apr-2025
Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Rajasthan Royals' 14-year-old new recruit • BCCI
Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson is set to miss the team's IPL 2025 fixture against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in Jaipur on Saturday with an abdomen injury.
Vice-captain Riyan Parag will lead RR, while 14-year-old left-hand batter Vaibhav Suryavanshi is one of the options to replace Samson in the XI. If he does play, he will make history as the IPL's youngest debutant. RR don't have another opener in the squad apart from Suryavanshi, though they could bring in Shubham Dubey or wicketkeeper batter Kunal Singh Rathore and play a makeshift opener.
Samson, who played as a batting impact player alone in RR's first three matches while recovering from a finger injury, sustained an abdominal strain during their seventh game of the season against Delhi Capitals (DC) on April 16. He was forced to retire hurt after scoring 31 off 19 balls, and RR eventually lost the match in a Super Over. Parag, who had captained RR for the first three games this season, will take charge again.
Suryavanshi, who turned 14 on March 27, made headlines at the IPL 2025 auction when, at just 13 years old, he was signed by RR for INR 1.1 crore to become the youngest player to earn an IPL contract. He had already represented India Under-19 as an opener by then, smashing a 58-ball century in a four-day match against Australia Under-19. He went on to play a key role in India's run to the final of the 2024 Under-19 Asia Cup, where he scored 176 runs at an average of 44. He also has a triple-century to his name - an unbeaten 332 - in the Randhir Verma Tournament, an U-19 competition in Bihar.
There is no timeline yet on Samson's return to fitness. He is RR's second highest run-getter this season with 224 runs in seven innings at an average of 37.33. Apart from Samson and RR's top-scorer Yashasvi Jaiswal (233 runs in seven innings), no other batter has crossed 200 runs this season, and they are languishing at eighth position on the IPL 2025 points table, avoiding last place only on the basis of NRR. After Saturday's fixture, RR's ninth game is on April 24, an away fixture against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).