New Delhi: Not witnessing Sanju Samson donning Rajasthan Royals colours will arguably be one of the biggest oddities at IPL 2026. With an 11-year association across two stints and five years as a captain, Samson became synonymous with the Royals franchise.
However, as all good things come to an end, Samson’s time at the Jaipur-based franchise also ended when the 2008 winners parted ways with their talisman ahead of the mini-auction in December last year.
Samson, who captained RR from 2021 to 2025, was traded to Chennai Super Kings (CSK) during the pre-season, with Ravindra Jadeja coming in as part of the swap deal.
Samson was a huge influence on the franchise, and losing a player of such a big stature leaves a hole that is impossible to plug.
After Samson’s departure, Riyan Parag has been given the reins of the Royals, who will open their campaign against Chennai Super Kings on March 30 in Guwahati.
Parag braces for the impossible task of replacing Samson
For Parag, taking charge in place of Samson will be a massive challenge, especially against five-time champions and Samson’s new team, CSK.
During a pre-season presser, Parag likened the challenge to replacing legends like Rohit Sharma or Virat Kohli and admitted the void left by Samson’s exit cannot be filled.
“If you talk about Sanju bhaiya, we never think about replacing the kind of player he is,” Parag told reporters in a pre-season press conference here.
“We can perhaps look for someone with a similar skillset or have someone bat in his position…
“It’s like there is no replacement for Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma… In the same way, there is no replacement for Sanju bhaiya because he is such a good player,” Parag said.
RR face uphill task of bouncing back sans Samson
Samson turned out to be a successful captain at RR, having guided the team to the IPL 2022 final and the playoffs in 2024. He is the leading run-scorer for the Royals with 4,219 runs in 155 matches across 11 seasons, including two centuries and 26 fifties.
While his talent was never in doubt, Samson’s stature has only grown manifold after a magnificent T20 World Cup campaign, where he struck three successive half-centuries in the final three games to power India to a historic title defence.
Sanju was adjudged the Player of the Tournament for finishing as the second-highest scorer in the tournament.
In his absence, the Rajasthan Royals face an uphill task of bouncing back from a horror last season, where they endured 10 defeats to finish ninth in the 10-team standings.
Parag acknowledged the torrid performances and vowed to come up with a better strategy and planning.