Sanju Samson named Rajasthan Royals captain ahead of IPL 2021

The Rajasthan Royals released Australia's star batsman Steve Smith ahead of 14th season of the IPL. The management has handed over the captaincy reins to wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson for the upcoming season.

In IPL 2018, Steve Smith was the only player retained by the Rajasthan Royals for a whopping price Rs 12.5 crore. Besides Smith, other Australian superstars like Glenn Maxwell and Aaron Finch were also released by their respective franchises.

Sanju Samson had a decent IPL 2020 season

The wicket-keeper batsman had a noble IPL 2020 season in the United Arab Emirates. The 26-year-old featured in all the 14 matches and scored 375 runs at an average of 28.84. However, the Rajasthan Royals could not make it to the playoffs as they had one of their less fortunate campaigns. Rajasthan Royals finished last in the IPL 2020. 

Rajasthan Royals signed Samson back in 2013. He is now the third Indian after Rahul Dravid and Ajinkya Rahane to captain the franchise. In his IPL journey so far, Samson has aggregated 2584 runs in 107 matches at an average of 27.78. This also includes 13 half-centuries and 2 centuries in the tournament. The wicket-keeper's highest score in the IPL is 102 runs not out.

In IPL 2020, Smith played 14 games and scored 311 runs at a strike rate of 131. Overall, Smith has featured in 95 IPL matches and has accumulated 2333 runs at 35.34 with one hundred and 11 half-centuries. The player auctions will take place in February 2021, and all the franchises are in preparations for finalising their best team combinations ahead of the mini-auctions.

Sanju Samson was also a part of India's One Day International squad during their tour of Australia. The wicket-keeper batsman captained Kerala in the recently concluded Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. Kerala finished with three wins in five matches.

Rajasthan Royals retained players: 

Sanju Samson, Jofra Archer, Rahul Tewatia, Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Shreyas Gopal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Mayank Markande.

Rajasthan Royals released players:  

Steve Smith, Ankit Rajpoot, Oshane Thomas, Akash Singh, Varun Aaron, Tom Curran, Anirudha Joshi, Shashank Singh.

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