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Sanju Samson will miss the game against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru with an abdominal niggle and also didn’t feature in their last match against the Lucknow Super Giants.
Sanju Samson holds his side after getting injured in the game vs DC (Picture credit: BCCI)
Former India head coach Rahul Dravid, who is currently working with the Rajasthan Royals, has said that Sanju Samson was not fit and the franchise’s medical team did not rule him fit to play in their Thursday’s match against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, although they are trying their best to make him match-fit soon.
Samson will miss the game against RCB with an abdominal niggle and also didn’t feature in their last match against the Lucknow Super Giants.
Although Samson’s absence at the top of the order wasn’t felt thanks to Vaibhav Suryavanshi’s blistering knock, Rajasthan’s campaign has been falling apart.
“Sanju, I think, sort of picked up a bit of a side issue with the game against Delhi (Capitals), and he couldn’t play the last game and in this game as well. He wasn’t fi,t and our medical team sort of didn’t rule him fit to play this game,” Dravid said while speaking at the pre-match press conference.
“So, we took the decision and the medical advice to not risk him travelling — make two more flights and be here. We kept the physio back so that we can treat him and try and get him back as quickly as we possibly can,” Dravid added.
The former India cricketer didn’t give any specific timeline for Samson’s return, even as Rajasthan fans would desperately want him back.
“I have no time-line to give as to when exactly he will be fit, but we’re trying our best, you know, obviously we’ve got to play here, after this we’ve got a game on (April) 27th and we’ve got a few games quickly and then we’ve got a gap,” Dravid said.
“So, we’ll just have to see how it goes. Honestly, he was not fit for this game and he didn’t travel here,” Dravid added.
RR are currently at the eighth spot in the points table, with just two wins from eight matches and a net run rate of -0.63. Given Bengaluru’s poor form in home games, Rajasthan have a massive chance of pulling off a win on Thursday and giving some impetus to their IPL 2025 campaign.
