Follow UsRajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson is back after a month and will bat at No.3 in Match 59 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on May 18 (Sunday).
Samson, who last played on April 16, missed five games before the tournament was suspended because of an abdominal injury. However, this one week has given him time to recover and he is captaining RR against PBKS.
In his absence, RR handed a debut to Vaibhav Suryavanshi, and the 14-year-old responded by smashing the second-fastest hundred in IPL history. And, the young left-hander did that while opening the innings.
Now that Samson is back, will the 30-year-old take back his opening slot?
“I would love to respect where he (Suryavanshi) is batting. He has played well for us. I will bat down the order,” said Samson, who has opened in all seven games he has played in the IPL 2025.
Samson replaces injured Nitish Rana. Kwena Maphaka is also making his RR debut, with Jofra Archer not returning for the remaining games.
It was PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer who won the toss and decided to bat first. Australian batter Mitchell Owen is also making his IPL debut.