RR to change captaincy before IPL 2026? Cryptic post sparks speculation

Amidst all the speculations of whether Sanju Samson will stay with the Rajasthan Royals or not for the upcoming 2026 season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the franchise has made a cryptic post with a tagline of ‘Captain Dhruv Jurel.’ A few reports have claimed that Samson asked the management not to retain him before the new season, even though the final decision belongs to the franchise. 

Just amongst all the flying news, Jurel was named the captain of the Central Zone for the season-opening Duleep Trophy 2025, which begins on August 28 at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. The 23-year-old wicket-keeper batter, who turned heads for incredible glove work and batting temperament during their 2-2 drawn Test series in England, has a new responsibility.

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Jurel has been selected as the new captain, which shows the trust of the selectors. He played the final red-ball clash of the series at Kennington Oval after Rishabh Pant was ruled out of the encounter due to a broken foot. However, he kept wickets at Lord’s and Old Trafford when Pant was out of action with various injuries.

"Captain Dhurv Jurel"- RR makes cryptic post on new captain before IPL 2026

On August 08, RR celebrated their young captain’s leadership with an interesting post of ‘Ek hoga jo stumps ke peeche se game badal dega (There will be someone who can change the game from behind the stumps). This could be a new indication after the reports on Samson, who missed several games of the previous edition due to a thumb injury.

Riyan Parag led the side in Samson’s absence. The franchise hasn’t commented yet on the situation, as the post doesn’t mention Samson. However, optics are interesting, even if they are made unintentionally, at the right time. Overall, Jurel has smashed 680 IPL runs for RR at a strike rate of 153.84 with four fifties.

On the other hand, the Kerala batter, Sanju Samson, has nailed over 4700 runs in IPL at a strike rate of around 140 with 26 fifties and three centuries. In the last eight seasons, apart from 2025, the right-handed batter has crossed the 300-run mark consistently. If the reports are true, the Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders are keeping an eye on the batter before the auction.