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Sanju Samson was ruled out of the Lucknow Super Giants game because of an abdominal injury. Vice-captain Riyan Parag stepped in to captain the team in the former’s absence.
Sanju Samson missed out on the LSG match due to an abdominal injury (Picture credit: BCCI)
Rajasthan Royals bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule has admitted that the team missed regular skipper Sanju Samson at the top of the order against the Lucknow Super Giants and his situation will need to be assessed yet again before the team is informed of his fitness and his possibility of inclusion in the playing XI.
Samson was ruled out of the Lucknow game because of an abdominal injury. Vice-captain Riyan Parag stepped in to captain the team in the former’s absence.
Samson, who had to play the first three games of IPL 2025 as a batting impact player because of a finger injury, picked up a fresh one during Rajasthan’s last game against the Delhi Capitals on April 16.
“We missed Sanju. I think they will assess his situation and will let us know. I just feel he’s (Vaibhav Suryavanshi) a great kid with a really good head on his shoulders. I think he’s got a game which is almost 360 degrees,” Bahutule said while speaking at the post-match press conference.
“The approach at that age is also very dominating, and he wants to play shorts. He doesn’t feel that he is playing against some particular bowler. His theory is to watch the ball and hit the ball,” Bahutule added.
The former India leg-spinner backed Sandeep Sharma despite the latter giving away 27 runs in the last over that gave Lucknow an upper hand in the eventual calculations.
“Sandeep is a fabulous bowler. He’s always bowled those important and tough overs. In the previous match too, he bowled 2 overs with very few runs, 5 and 7 runs,” Bahutule said.
“We forget those important overs, and we keep emphasising on overs which he has not bowled well. But I think for us, he is a 100% giver and the team backs him,” Bahutule added.
The Royals were cruising at 156/2 at the end of the 17th over, needing 25 runs from three overs with eight wickets in hand.
RR play their next game against the Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the latter’s home, and a defeat in that match will put them in a precarious situation.
