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Rajasthan Royals (RR) have retained Sanju Samson as their captain ahead of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 mega auctions. According to Sports Tak source, Samson is the only retention the Rajasthan franchise has finalised so far.
The other three retentions for Royals are expected to be star English wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler, Liam Livingstone and uncapped Indian batter Yashasvi Jaiswal. Buttler was not available for the second phase of IPL 2021 whereas Livingstone could not live upto the expectations.
Samson was the top run-getter for Royals in the last season with 484 runs from 14 games at an average of 40.33 including one century and two half-centuries.
All the franchises including need to submit their list of retained players till November 30. The existing franchises can pick four players each with the combination of either two Indian and two overseas players or three Indian and one overseas player. Franchises may decide not to retain any of the players and go with a bigger purse in the mega auction.
In IPL 2021, Samson replaced Steve Smith as captain as the former Australian skipper was released by the franchise. Under the leadership of the 27-year-old, Royals won only five out of 14 matches they placed in the league stage. There were a few close games in the middle whereas in the end their batting collapses prevented them from making a late comeback and qualify for the playoffs.
Royals won the inaugural season of IPL. In the last three years, they have not been able to qualify for playoffs.
