IPL 2026: ‘Sanju Samson Was the Face of Rajasthan Royals,’ Says Faf du Plessis

IPL 2026: Faf du Plessis is of the opinion that Rajasthan Royals have lost their 'face' with Sanju Samson's exit.

Rajasthan Royals will usher in a new era in TATA IPL 2026 with the homecoming of Ravindra Jadeja, along with Riyan Parag taking over as Captain. Speaking on JioHotstar's 'Game Plan - Know Your Team', JioStar experts Faf du Plessis and Laxmipathy Balaji discussed the challenges facing Vaibhav Suryavanshi in the new season, and how Yashasvi Jaiswal’s role could evolve in Sanju Samson’s absence.

Speaking on JioHotstar's 'Game Plan - Know Your Team', JioStar expert Faf du Plessis shared his thoughts on Rajasthan Royals losing Sanju Samson who was the face of the franchise for the last decade:

If I look at the IPL and the teams, the iconic teams we see around the league, all of them have one marquee Indian player in common, someone who has been the face of the franchise for a period of time, Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli. And Sanju Samson, for me, was that guy at Rajasthan Royals. Yes, he's of a newer generation, but he had become the face of that franchise. If I think of Rajasthan Royals, I think Sanju Samson. So, the fact that they've lost that face, I think, is a massive thing for the fans, for the IPL, and for the tournament, because he's played such a big role there.

Faf du Plessis

On change in roles for Yashasvi Jaiswal after Sanju Samson's departure, du Plessis opined:

The thing with Yashasvi Jaiswal is that he's had Sanju Samson, who has been such a huge, consistent performer within that batting line-up. So, when you have that consistency of runs from Sanju, it allows you to play your game. Now, you take that away, all of a sudden, people will look at him with more responsibility. And for a player like him, you don't want him thinking about responsibility, you want him thinking, 'I want to take the game on. I want to hit as many sixes as possible.' So there's a learning curve that's going to come into his career this season, 'Am I true to the game that I've always played, or do I take up the senior player role to score the bulk of the runs?' So it'll be interesting to see how that goes. I think he'll still play in the way that he does. It would be silly not to, because he's such an attacking player.

Faf du Plessis