Sanju Samson to lead Rajasthan in IPL 2021, Sangakkara roped in as Director of Cricket

Moments after the ouster of Steve Smith, Rajasthan have announced that young gun Sanju Samson will lead the squad in the upcoming edition of the IPL. The youngster, who has played for Delhi before his stint with Rajasthan, was one of the key players for the squad in the IPL 2020. The franchise has also announced that they would be retaining 17 players and will release the remaining 8 players ahead of the mini-auction.

Moreover, former Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has been roped in as the team's Director of cricket. The franchise had announced earlier in the day that will not be retaining skipper Steve Smith for the upcoming edition of the IPL. While the reason is unknown yet, it has been speculated that the ouster might be due to the Australian's poor performance in the previous edition where the team finished last on the points table. 

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Bangalore announce list of players retained 

With the IPL 2021 just months away, the Bangalore franchise led by Indian skipper Virat Kohli has announced its list of retained players on Wednesday evening. The squad has retained its core group comprising of skipper Virat Kohli, spinner Yuzvendra Chahal and explosive Proteas batsman AB de Villiers. Simon Katich and the management have also decided to keep youngster Devdutt Padikkal, who had a phenomenon IPL 2020, providing the squad with great starts at the top of the order. 

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Moreover, Bangalore has also decided to retain the services of Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini as they eye their maiden IPL title in 2021. Notable overseas players that have been retained include Adam Zampa, Josh Philippe and Kane Richardson. 

Meanwhile, the Chennai franchise ed by former India skipper MS Dhoni has decided to retain Suresh Raina. As per ANI sources, the franchise has decided to retain the former India batsman along with star players Faf du Plessis and Dwayne Bravo. The development comes as the franchises face the deadline heat of January 20 to submit their list of retained players ahead of the mini-auction. 

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