Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag has commented on Sanju Samson’s absence ahead of the Indian Premier League season 2026. Samson, who led the side for the last five years, was traded to Chennai Super Kings ahead of the IPL auction last season. RR secured the services of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran in return.
Talking about the void that Samson leaves behind, Parag said that replacing him is as difficult as replacing stalwarts like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the Indian team.
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“If you are talking about Sanju bhaiya, we never think of replacing the kind of player he is,” Parag told reporters at a pre-season press conference in Jaipur.
“Maybe we can look for someone with similar skills or have someone to bat in his position. Like there is no replacement for Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma. Similarly there is no replacement for Sanju bhaiya because he is such a good player,” said Parag, referring to the two superstars who now only play the ODI format.
VIDEO | At the IPL 2026 pre-season press conference, Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag says Sanju Samson is irreplaceable and highlights the team’s focus on better planning and finishing matches this season.
He says, “We never thought of replacing him (Sanju Samson). pic.twitter.com/n9HuGqJ0DH— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) March 19, 2026
Sanju, who represented the franchise for 11 years in two stints, remains RR’s most successful captain and leading run-scorer as he guided them to the 2022 IPL final and the 2024 playoffs.
His stature only rose after a stellar campaign in the T20 World Cup, where he hit three consecutive match-defining knocks to help India defend their historic title and win the Player of the Tournament award.
FOCUS ON BETTER FINISHING GAMES
The Rajasthan captain said that this season the focus will be on finishing the matches better. Last year, RR lost a few games in the last few overs from winning positions, which Parag admitted the team was working to address.
“This year we are focusing on better planning and finishing games, which we could not do in the previous edition,” he said.
“We need to plan well. Last year there were about five or six games that we lost in the last over or even on the last ball. If we could have converted them or if we had calculated better, this question would not have been asked because we would have qualified for the knockouts by winning those games,” he explained.
“I think in every T20 game there are three or four decisions you have to make that change the course of the game. If we take those small decisions with better strategy and planning, this year will be different,” Parag added.
With a new captain at the helm and a revamped core, Rajasthan Royals will be hoping that these marginal gains translate into results as they look to overcome their near misses and re-establish themselves as serious contenders in IPL 2026.
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Issued by:
Kingshuk Kusari
Published on:
19 March 2026 19:01 IST
