Rajasthan Royals name Sanju Samson as their first retention

Rajasthan Royals have retained the services of Sanju Samson for three more years. According to ESPN Cricinfo, the wicket-keeper batsman will also keep a hold of his role as captain. He led the franchise to a seventh-place finish in his first season as captain.

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Samson marks the Royals' first retention choice and the franchise is keen to retain three more players. With the franchise looking to retain the maximum limit of four players, Samson agreed to a contract worth INR 14 crore, earlier this week.

According to auction rules, in circumstances where a franchise retains four players, the first player nets INR 16 crore. But Samson agreed to a 14 Cr contract. Despite the difference, the Royals will walk into the auction with 48 Cr if they retain four players.

Samson was roped in by the Royals for the second time in the auction for a sum of INR 8 Cr. He played a substantial role for the franchise as their wicket-keeper and No.3 batsman. But he was handed additional responsibility in the form of the captaincy at the start of the IPL 2021.

Livingstone, Archer, Buttler and Jaiswal are the frontrunners for the other Royals' retention spots

The core group of Royals' overseas contingent is led by their England international players. These include Jos Buttler, Jofra Archer, Ben Stokes and Liam Livingstone. The services of Buttler, Archer and Stokes were sorely missed by the franchise in the recently concluded season.

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While keen to retain Archer, several in the Royals management are skeptical about his long-term fitness. The fast bowler missed the entirety of the IPL and the T20 World Cup and will now miss The Ashes as well due to an elbow injury.

The franchise is confident about the prospect of retaining wicket-keeper batsman Jos Buttler. He is in a rich vein of form following a stellar individual campaign in the UAE.

Ben Stokes' future with the franchise stands on a financial point of view. The Royals are unsure whether they would have enough money to offer him to stay. Management plans on retaining Livingstone in case Archer moves onto the auction pool.

The IPL governing council has set November 30 as the deadline for franchises to announce their retention list. Rajasthan Royals are expected to finalize the remaining retained players by November 28.