Sanju Samson back as Rajasthan captain; gets CoE clearance from BCCI

BENGALURU: Keeping their recent woes in the IPL aside, Rajasthan Royals finally have something to cheer about. Malayali player Sanju Samson, who arrived at the Center of Excellence in Bengaluru following an injury, passed the fitness test. BCCI thus permitted Sanju to resume his role as Rajasthan’s wicketkeeper captain.

Rajasthan had lost the tournament's first three games under youngster Riyan Parag’s captaincy. Parag drew flak from many for his naïve captaincy skills. The Assam player replaced Sanju as captain following the latter's injury.

Sanju suffered a fracture in his right index finger. He had previously undergone surgery on his hand. Sanju had gone to Bengaluru for a check-up from the Rajasthan camp in Guwahati the previous day. With a CoE certificate, the malayali player is expected to return as captain in the next match against Punjab on April 5.

Minding the injury, Sanju was given only partial permission to play in the IPL. Sanju came out as an impact player in all three matches. Sanju, who brought out his innate explosive batting style in the first match, scored 66 runs. In the second match, he scored 13 runs against Kolkata Knight Riders and 20 runs against Chennai Super Kings in the third match.