Jaipur, March 20: Ryan Parag, the new captain of Rajasthan Royals, believes that Sanju Samson cannot be replaced, much like cricket icons Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. In IPL 2026, Samson will be seen playing for Chennai Super Kings. Rajasthan has traded Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran to bring him into the team.
Parag stated, “We can only look for players who possess skills similar to Sanju Samson and can fill the gap left by his departure in the batting order. Just as no one can replace Kohli or Rohit in any eleven, no one can take Samson’s place either.”
He emphasized that the team aims to secure victories in closely contested matches this upcoming season. “But will we implement new strategies? This is what we discuss during our preparations. If you look at last season, we lost 5 to 6 close matches—some were lost on the last ball. If those games had gone our way this season, no one would be questioning our problems. In any 40-over match, there are moments when you need to make the right decisions, and I will focus on that—like who bats where, what to do at the toss, and if we execute that well, this year could be fantastic for us.”
Notably, Rajasthan Royals traded Sanju Samson to Chennai Super Kings before the IPL 2026 auction, bringing in Jadeja and Curran. Samson had expressed his desire to leave the Rajasthan team, prompting this decision. Rajasthan’s performance in IPL 2025 was disappointing, with only 4 wins out of 14 matches, while they faced defeat in 10.
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