Rajasthan Royals' star player trains hard ahead of IPL 2025 match against Gujarat Titans [Watch]

Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson was seen taking part in his wicketkeeping and batting drills ahead of his team's Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 match against Gujarat Titans (GT) in Jaipur on Monday, April 28. In a video shared on the franchise's X account, the 30-year-old could be seen taking catches and batting, raising hopes of him playing on Monday.

Samson has been out of action since Wednesday, April 16, when he sustained an injury to his ribs while attempting a cut short in the IPL match against Delhi Capitals. He has missed RR's last two matches against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).

Riyan Parag has led RR in Samson's absence, and the franchise have given chances to 14-year-old southpaw Vaibhav Suryavanshi to open with Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Samson was used as an Impact Player in the first three matches of IPL 2025 as he was recovering from a finger injury. He has made 224 runs in seven matches at a strike rate of 143.59 in the tournament so far.

Struggling Rajasthan Royals look to return to winning ways against in-form Gujarat Titans

The inaugural champions have endured a difficult run of results in IPL 2025. They currently find themselves in ninth place on the points table with two wins and seven losses after nine matches.

Several former players have questioned RR's retention policy ahead of IPL 2025. Former India captain Anil Kumble said he was surprised they did not have Jos Buttler as one of the retentions, heading into the mega auction.

"Jos Buttler was the key player for the Rajasthan Royals for a while. He was instrumental in single-handedly damaging the opposition. I was a bit surprised that RR didn't retain him," Kumble was quoted as saying by Hindustan Times.

RR had retained Sanju Samson, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel and added Sandeep Sharma as their uncapped retention, before the mega auction.