Coach Rahul Dravid Explains Samson's Influence in the Release of Key RR Stars During IPL Retentions

The IPL 2025 Retentions were particularly arduous for the Rajasthan Royals as they had a low of star power in the franchise. Since they could only keep six people in the core, they had to make amends and elect some of the side's supreme players while letting others go. RR made some sensible selections this year and retained the services of multiple in-form players who have shined for the franchise. The franchise's new head coach, Rahul Dravid, has also revealed how Skipper Sanju Samson influenced the release and retention part ahead of the IPL mega auction.   

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Coach Rahul Dravid Revealed The Sanju Samson Influence in RR's Retention List 

Rajasthan Royals' new head coach, Rahul Dravid, revealed that skipper Sanju Samson had a major influence in finalizing the decision when the management was making the retention calls. Dravid admitted that Samson found it hard to let go of some players, especially after sharing the dressing room with them for years.

“Sanju had a big role to play in these retentions. He faced a lot of difficulty, too. As a captain, he has build a lot of relationships with these players. We are very sad for the players we couldn't retain, and Sanju has worked with these players for 5-6 years now.

“He has had balanced views on these retentions. He has taken the trouble to understand the dynamics of it, charting out the pros and cons. He has discussed a lot with us on this, and it wasn't an easy decision. We had a lot of debates, but in the end, we are happy with the team that we have and we wanted to retain as many as possible,” Coach Rahul Dravid said.

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The Rajasthan Royals went on to elect their Skipper and Stumper Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, and Shimron Hetmeyer, while Sandeep Sharma has been picked as the uncapped player.

However, a lot of the Jaipur-based franchise had to let go of a lot of star power, which included R Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, and Jos Buttler. While they have maintained their core, RR needs to build their base up in the auction by finding promising star power in the pool of players who will be a part of the auction.