‘Like Rohit and Virat, Sanju Samson can’t be replaced’:New RR captain Riyan Parag banks on Ravindra Jadeja’s experience

Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) new captain Riyan Parag said that Sanju Samson is irreplaceable, at a press conference ahead of IPL 2026 on 19 March. Prior to the IPL auction last year, Samson was traded to Chennai Super Kings (CSK), with Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran joining the Rajasthan Royals. Parag, who led RR as a stand-in captain last season, was appointed for the role full-time after Samson moved to CSK. And Rajasthan Royals will start their IPL 2026 campaign against CSK on 30 March in Guwahati. ‘Sanju Samson can’t be replaced’ Speaking to the media, Parag spoke on the void left by Samson, drawing a comparison with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli. “If you talk about Sanju bhaiya, we never think about replacing the kind of player he is,” he said. “We can perhaps look for someone with a similar skill-set or have someone bat in his position…It’s like there is no replacement for Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma. In the same way, there is no replacement for Sanju bhaiya because he is such a good player,” the new Rajasthan Royals captain added. Parag further stated that a big tournament like the Indian Premier League cannot be won on the strength of one or two players. Every player’s contribution is necessary to lead a team to victory. Parag also highlighted Rajasthan Royals’ failures in the last season. He said that the Royals lost many close games in IPL 2025 and will plan better this time around. “We need to plan well. Last year, there were about 5-6 games that we lost in the last over or even on the last ball. Had we been able to convert those, or had we calculated better, this question (if RR would try anything new) would not have been asked because we would have qualified (for knockouts) by winning those matches,” he said. Parag further shared that he misses many former Rajasthan Royals players. Mentioning Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, and Jos Buttler, he said- He has learned a lot from all these players. When he was going through a tough phase, Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler supported him a lot, which he can never forget. Also read: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 14, smacks huge hits against Ravindra Jadeja: Rajasthan Royals prodigy shows no mercy, RR gear up for CSK clash ‘Both Jaipur and Guwahati are special’ The new Rajasthan Royals captain also said that he gets good support in both Jaipur and Guwahati. Although he is from Assam, the people of Guwahati know him better and he gets more support there. The atmosphere of both grounds is different, but as a player, both grounds are equal for him. Vaibhav Suryavanshi to open with Yashasvi Jaiswal Parag also made it clear that 14-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi would open the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal. . He said that the kind of performance Vaibhav has shown in the last one year is commendable, and he believes that India is going to get an excellent opener at such a young age. “As a captain, I will tell him not to do many press conferences, not interact with the media much, just enjoy,” said Parag, while requesting the media to not “call his manager to talk to him. Let him play his cricket.” “This year, there will be hype and pressure naturally, but as a captain, I will tell him to let Yashasvi Jaiswal take the pressure. Jaiswal is more than capable of handling that. For Vaibhav, the role will be just to go, hit, and not to worry.” Jadeja’s experience is important for the team Parag described the team combination as balanced and said that the role of senior players will be very important. Praising Ravindra Jadeja, he said that he is one of the most experienced players in the team and his experience will prove to be very crucial for the team in difficult situations. “The main advantage of having someone like Jadeja is that he has played all the seasons, and that experience he brings will be very useful as we try to win those small moments. He is the most experienced IPL player in our squad now,” Parag said. Sangakkara’s support for captaincy decision During this time, team coach Kumar Sangakkara also supported the decision to make Riyan Parag captain. He said that earlier Sanju Samson was a strong pillar of the team, but now he is not part of the team. Sangakkara stated – There was a long discussion with the franchise management regarding the selection of the captain and a shortlist of several potential players was prepared. “We had shortlisted some candidates that we had a very strict interview process for. Riyan knows the questions were hard. At the end of the day, Manoj (Badale) and I sat down and it was evident that the right choice to lead Rajasthan was Riyan,” Sangakkara added. No match in Jaipur in the first phase of IPL Meanwhile, there are no matches in Jaipur in the first phase of the IPL. Rajasthan Royals are set to play four matches in the first phase (28 March to 12 April)- vs Chennai Super Kings (30 March, Guwahati), against Gujarat Titans (4 April, Ahmedabad), against Mumbai (7 April, Guwahati) and vs RCB (10 April, Guwahati) for the first phase of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026.