Indian Premier League inagural winners, Rajasthan Royals (RR), are currently making headlines with the reports that they are trading their skipper, Sanju Samson, to the five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) before the auction of the mega event, which will take place later this year in December in New Delhi.
Massive changes in RR's support staff after IPL 2024
After a forgetful campaign in the last edition of the cash-rich league, a lot is happening in the Rajasthan-based franchise as they look for a complete overhaul. There have been many changes to their coaching staff, with former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara returning to RR as head coach following Rahul Dravid's exit. The Sri Lankan great has been RR's Director of Cricket since 2021. The franchise has also parted ways with CEO Jake Lush McCrum.
Will Sanju Samson join the Chennai Super Kings?
There were reports that the RR skipper, Sanju Samson, will be traded to the CSK in exchange for their veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran or Matheesha Pathirana.
Notably, Samson has captained RR in 67 matches, during which the Rajasthan-based franchise won 33 games and lost 33. The franchise was also a finalist in 2022 and featured in the playoffs during the 17th edition of the tournament.
Who will lead RR if Samson joins CSK?
If Samson joins the Chennai Super Kings, then RR will need to appoint a new captain. Notably, Riyan Parag led the franchise in the last edition of the tournament when the Kerala batter failed to feature due to injury, so there were speculations that Parag would be his sucessor to captain the side. However, there is a twist as TOI reported that India stars Dhruv Jurel and Yashasvi Jaiswal are the frontrunners for the captaincy because they are very close to head coach Kumar Sangakkara.
The report further stated that Jurel might pip Jaiswal for the captaincy role due to his multi-dimensional skills. Jurel can keep wickets, has established himself as a finisher in the past few seasons, and, most importantly, as a keeper, plays a pivotal role in controlling the game from behind the stumps.
Considering the Impact player rule, Jaiswal can be substituted for a bowler and vice versa. With Jurel at the helm, it gives the team more flexibility.