Sanju Samson Becomes First Player To Be Retained for IPL 2025

With only a week remaining for IPL retention, most franchises are still keeping their plans under wraps. However, Rajasthan Royals have made their decision clear. On October 24, RR shared a post on their social media featuring head coach Rahul Dravid, director Kumar Sangakkara, CEO, batting coach Vikram Rathour, and other staff members. Sanju Samson was also present in the group photo which suggests that Rajasthan Royals will retain him and he will lead the team once again in IPL 2025.

Sanju Samson’s Retention Confirmed

Other teams have not given any hint about their retention plans yet. This makes Sanju Samson the first player to be officially retained for IPL 2025. The Rajasthan Royals’ post was captioned “Big Week,” indicating that the people in the photo were meeting to finalize the retention strategy, with captain Sanju Samson playing a key role in the discussions.

Big week! 👀⏳ pic.twitter.com/dzvzsujdzR

— Rajasthan Royals (@rajasthanroyals) October 24, 2024

Sanju Samson and Rajasthan Royals have shown great loyalty toward each other. It was Rajasthan Royals who bought Samson in 2013, giving him his first IPL contract. Although Samson played for Delhi Capitals (then Delhi Daredevils) in the 2016 and 2017 seasons, RR bought him back in the 2018 auction. Since then, Rajasthan has consistently retained him. In 2025, Samson will be playing his 11th season for RR.

Since 2021, Sanju Samson has been leading the Rajasthan Royals. Under his leadership, RR reached the IPL 2022 final, which was their first final since their title-winning triumph in 2008. Last season, RR also performed brilliantly, finishing third on the points table. They could have finished in the top two had they not lost their last league matches. The team made it to Qualifier 2, where they were eventually knocked out by Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

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In recent years, Rajasthan Royals have also performed well financially. Strong on-field performances have boosted the franchise’s brand value, which has now reached $133 million, placing Rajasthan Royals 5th among IPL teams in terms of brand value.