Samson To Sacrifice His Opening Slot For  Vaibhav Suryavanshi? How RR Can Use 14-Year-Old

Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Sanju Samson (Source: AP Photos)

Sanju Samson has been the poster boy of Rajasthan Royals for quite a long time now. He is also the designated captain of RR for IPL 2025, and is one of their finest batters. However, injuries have not helped his cause this season, and RR have struggled to notch up consistent wins.

In the game against GT though, they managed to stun everyone and won the game comprehensively, courtesy a mind-bowling 35-ball century from 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi. The kid has shown insane hitting ability in the three matches he has played, and now it would be pretty hard to drop him even if Sanju Samson returns after his injury.

The big question though is, who will be dropped if RR want to play both Sanju Samson and Vaibhav Suryavanshi in their line-up. Also, where will Sanju Samson bat with Vaibhav and Yashasvi doing well at the top of the order. Let's try to analyse that.

Sanju Samson To Go Back To His Number 3 Position?

Sanju Samson was batting at number 3 till the last year's IPL and had his best season with 531 runs in 15 innings. However, the Indian team management decided to try him out as an opener in the Bangladesh T20I series, and the man grabbed that opportunity with both hands, scoring three centuries in the space of five T20I innings.

Thus, he decided to open in IPL 2025 as well, and has done decently, but now with Vaibhav at the top, Sanju Samson might have to go back at three. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi are natural openers, so RR management might refrain from changing their position, and that is where the captain would have to take a selfless decision and move down the order.

Also, Samson's average is 38.42 at number 3 in IPL and has lot more experience of batting at 3 compared to other positions. As opener, Sanju's average is 26.10 in IPL, thus moving him at his last year's position is not a bad idea.

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Comparison Of Sanju Samson's Performance At Number 3 And Opener

Nitish Rana Or Dhruv Jurel - Who Will Face The Axe?

Thus, considering, Samson bats at 3, one of Nitish Rana or Dhruv Jurel has to sit out. Purely on stats, Dhruv Jurel is doing better in IPL 2025. Jurel has 238 runs in nine innings, with an average close to 40 and strike-rate of 150.63. Nitish Rana, on the other hand, has 208 runs in 10 innings with an average of 23.11 and strike-rate of 169.10.

However, Nitish Rana's knocks have been more impactful. Their stats at number 5 are also similar, a position they might have to bat, if Sanju decides to go at three. Rana though is a more experienced batter, thus dropping him would not be an easy decision and given the lack of inexperience in RR squad, his presence is more than just his batting skills.

Nitish Rana's Stats At Number 5 In IPL

Dhruv Jurel's Stats At Number 5 In IPL

Conclusion

Thus, RR have a tough decision to make. However, given how Dhruv Jurel choked in three consecutive run-chases, and RR in a must-win situation, we might just see Nitish Rana getting a nod ahead of Dhruv Jurel.

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