NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals head coach Rahul Dravid revealed that captain Sanju Samson played a key role in deciding the franchise's player retention strategy for the upcoming IPL 2025 season. The franchise decided to retain six players in total.
Samson himself was the franchise's first retention pick. Joining him are Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, and Sandeep Sharma.
Dravid emphasized the captain's involvement, stating: "Sanju Samson played a big role in the retention, and it was difficult for him as well. As a captain, he has built a lot of relationships with the players. He has had a lot of balanced views about this. He has taken the trouble to understand the dynamics of it, the pros and cons of this. So, I would like to praise him for discussing this with us. It was not an easy decision for us either."
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The coach explained that retaining a core group provides stability for the team as they head into the auction. He believes the retained players are deserving and will form a strong foundation for the squad.
While acknowledging the challenges of the auction process, Dravid expressed his hopes for the upcoming season.
“For the next season, the expectation will be that we qualify and win. It’s been many years since Rajasthan has won a title. So, our effort will be to win, but we also understand that there are very good teams in IPL,” Dravid said on JioCinema.
