Last Updated:
Sanju Samson became the most successful captain in Rajasthan Royals history with a 50-run win over Punjab Kings, achieving 32 wins and surpassing Shane Warne’s 31.
Sanju Samson had a memorable day in Chandigarh. (AP Photo)
Sanju Samson became the most successful captain in Rajasthan Royals (RR) history with the team’s huge, 50-run IPL 2025 win over Punjab Kings at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Chandigarh on Saturday. He now has 32 wins at the helm of the franchise, surpassing the legendary Shane Warne who had 31 and going well past the likes of Rahul Dravid (23) and Steve Smith (15).
Samson has taken 62 games to surpass Warne, who had 31 wins in just 56 matches and led the franchise to their first title in the inaugural edition of IPL in 2008. The Keralite has a win percentage of 51.61 which is the fourth best for the team, and a big feat considering most of his tenure has been in a 10-team league.
This was also his first match as the captain in the league. He played the previous three matches too, but only as a specialist batter (and thus was used as the Impact Player) because he hadn’t gotten the clearance from the National Cricket Academy to keep wickets due to an injury he suffered before the season.
In the first innings, he scored 38 (26) as RR put up a substantial 205/4 in the first innings. In the second essay, a complete bowling performance led by Jofra Archer’s three-wicket haul earned the visitors the memorable triumph.
“The way we started in the powerplay, we thought we were running a bit short but the quality of the batters we have got, 205 was a very good score on the board,” Samson said after the match, as quoted by Cribuzz. “Very young batting lineup, very young in age but they have played a lot of games for the country. They are managing and playing the game very well. (on Archer and Sandeep) That’s a very deadly combo, one guy bowling at 150 and one guy at 115… We did have a small meeting in the timeout and I suggested they are a quality side and we can’t take it easy. Till the last ball is bowled, we can’t guarantee a win. We focused on the process and the result took care of itself. We took our time to find out what the best combination and lineups and orders are, injuries we have to take care as this is a long tournament.”
Stay updated with all the latest news on IPL 2025, including the schedule, points table, top run-scorers (IPL Orange Cap), and leading wicket-takers (IPL Purple Cap). Get real-time updates, match highlights, and expert insights—only on News18.
- Location :
Chandigarh, India, India
