Could Rajasthan Royals offer captaincy to Ravindra Jadeja? Anil Kumble wonders

Jadeja, who played for CSK for 12 seasons, is among the most experienced players in the league, having played over 250 games.

Jadeja started his IPL career with the Rajasthan Royals in 2008 and stayed there till 2011 before he was snapped up by the Kochi Tuskers. (Screengrab: Rajasthan Royals X)

The headlines coming out from the IPL retention day was the trade between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals over Ravindra Jadeja and Sanju Samson who swapped franchises ahead of the IPL mini auctions next month. Former India spinner Anil Kumble said that he was pretty surprised that Jadeja was let go from CSK and also wondered if the allrounder could be in line for the RR captaincy.

“Ravindra Jadeja returning to Rajasthan Royals is a big move. Generally, CSK doesn’t let go of their players, especially someone of Jadeja’s quality who has had a long relationship with them. I was surprised they let him go. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson coming to CSK is certainly a great move for them,” Kumble said on IPL Retention Show on JioHotstar.

“Interestingly, Jadeja has also taken a pay cut from 18 crore to 14 crore. The big question is about captaincy – could Rajasthan offer it to Jadeja? They need to find a new captain. They have several options – Riyan Parag led them in a couple of matches last season, Yashasvi Jaiswal has always harbored captaincy dreams, young Dhruv Jurel has the right temperament, and there’s overseas option Sam Curran. So Ravindra Jadeja becomes another interesting possibility for their leadership role,” he added.

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Jadeja, who played for CSK for 12 seasons, is among the most experienced players in the league, having played over 250 games. He started his IPL career with the Rajasthan Royals in 2008 and stayed there till 2011 before he was snapped up by the Kochi Tuskers. after that franchise was terminated, Jadeja was bought by CSK in 2012 and have been with them till the recent trade.

Meanwhile, Samson who was the captain of the Rajasthan Royals, has played 177 matches since his first IPL signing with the Kolkata Knight Riders. CSK will be the fourth franchise of his career. Since making his IPL debut in 2013, the Kerala wicket-keeper has represented RR in all but two seasons—2016 and 2017—when he played for Delhi Capitals.

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