Top News

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sanju Samson (Source: IPL/X)

Rajasthan Royals (RR) have lived up to their expectations in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, and one of the reasons has been the absence of in some of the matches. The RR skipper played as an Impact Player in the first three games of the season as he was recovering from a finger injury. He made a comeback as a captain in the game against the Punjab Kings in Mullanpur. However, three games later, he suffered a side strain while batting against Delhi Capitals and missed the next five games.

Samson's services with the bat and his leadership skills have been dearly missed, as Riyan Parag has not been able to inspire his troops following the repeated setbacks. The Kerala wicketkeeper-batter returned to play the game against Punjab on May 18 and looked good during his brief stay at the crease. On Wednesday, he would look to lead from the front and help the inaugural champions beat Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. The team which loses this clash could finish at the bottom of the table.

, who is third on the list of leading run-getters in the tournament, recently shared his experience of playing under Samson and batting alongside the 30-year-old.

"Sanju bhai bohot alag level captain hai, aur jis tarah se wo baat karte hai, bohot maaza aata hai unki baatein sunke, aur confidence jaise dete hai (Sanju bhai is a captain of a different level, the way he speaks, it is a lot of fun, the way he gives the players confidence)," Yashasvi said in a video posted by Star Sports.

"Humari baat hoti reheti hai ke game kaisa chal raha hai, kya hum match mein kar sakte hai, kitna accha team ko ek sath le aa sakte hai, aur accha perform kar sakte hai. Kyunki har din kisi ka hoga nahi. Yeh game aisa hai ki apko har din ek nayi soch se jana hai, nayi attitude se jana hai ki bhai mere ko accha karna hai. To yehi hum sab sochte hai ki hum har din mehenat kare aur accha perform kare jabhi bhi humko opportunity mile (We keep talking about how the game is going, what we can do in the match, how well we can bring the team together, and perform well. Because one player will not do well every day. This is a game where you need to go in with a new mindset, a new attitude of doing well. So we keep thinking every day that we have to work hard and perform well whenever we get an opportunity)," he added.

Yashasvi has scored 523 runs from 13 innings at an average of 43.60 and a strike rate of 158 in IPL 2025. He will look to finish his campaign on a high with a strong performance against CSK.