Sanju Samson before Rajasthan Royals match (file photo)
Sanju Samson was handed over the captaincy of Rajasthan Royals following the release of Australian Batter Steve Smith ahead of IPL 2021. Samson who is yet to play exceptional innings for his team this season has a lot of backing from his fans even with his current form.
The 27-year-old didn't make a cut to the Indian team for the five-match T20I series against South Africa that was declared on 22nd May. Fans weren't happy with the management's decision and shared several posts and messages in his support on social media.
Samson has failed to have a breakthrough season that would help his case to be pushed forward. In some seasons, he would start the initial matches with a bang, hammering runs but would slow down as the tournament progressed.
The wicket-keeper batsman who hails from Kerala came into the limelight during his debut season for the Royals in 2013. He was groomed by legendary Rahul Dravid. His first match of the tournament was against Kings XI Punjab after Dishant Yagnik failed to recover from an injury.
During the years 2013-2015, he made a place as one of the important players in the RR batting line-up through his brilliant strokeplay. He was considered a future superstar and there was a phase when he was one of the top contenders to be MS Dhoni’s successor.
In the IPL seasons of 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021, Samson scored 441, 342, 375, and 484 runs for his franchise. Even though put a decent average score with his bat the last season, his team ended second-last in the points table.
Rajasthan Royals ended in the second spot with 18 points to make it to playoffs under Samson's captaincy, but his performance has been underwhelming so far. He scored 374 runs in 14 matches with an average of just 28.77 runs. While his teammate Jos Buttler smashed three centuries and three half-centuries this season, the skipper has managed to get only two fifties.
Rajasthan Royals is set to take on Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans on Tuesday. The last time they ended at the number two position at the league stage was back in 2008 when the team claimed their first and the only title.
Whether Sanju Samson will make a comeback with his bat, going against all odds, proving all criticisms wrong, and making his supporters jump with joy is something to watch out for.
Gujarat Titans Probable Playing XI: Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade/Alzarri Joseph, Hardik Pandya, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Shami
Rajasthan Royals Probable XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Obed McCo
