Credit: IPL
Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson has talked about his former teammates ahead of his team’s opening clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025. Ahead of the IPL 2025 auction in Jeddah, IPL 2008 champions released iconic names such as Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Trent Boult as they could retain only six players. Following the mega auction, RR’s side witnessed a huge reform as most iconic names, who served them until 2024, joined different teams. Noting that, Sanju had said if he could change one thing in the league, he would change the rule of releasing players.
In the latest development, the RR skipper emphasised on forgetting the past to focus on identifying the strengths and frailties of new players. "We have to let go of the past, forget what happened, forget the quality of players we had. They're different players, different line-ups. We've got to go with a fresh pair of eyes and thinking. You can't say last year we had them, did this or did that,” said Samson.
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Samson shows belief in his bowlers ahead of RR's IPL 2025 opener
Samson has said that he is the leader who trusts his bowlers. The 30-year-old said despite a few relaxations announced ahead of the competition, bowlers’ job won’t be easy as conditions are still inclined towards batters. “I'm a type of captain who trusts the bowlers. They need to tell me their strength and what they want to bowl. It's a mixture of my experience and their thinking coming together and them finding the right way to go ahead. After playing a few games, we will understand their strengths and weaknesses," said Samson.
"Bowlers have been coming in with new tricks - change of pace, slower balls, slower bouncers. Now IPL has introduced a rule of players being allowed to apply saliva, that can help bowlers, or the new ball rule because of dew. We're trying to balance it out, but it still looks like [it will be] a heavy scoring season," added Samson.
