There is a lot of chatter surrounding Rajasthan Royals leading up to their Indian Premier League fixture against the Lucknow Super Giants, and most of it is surrounding skipper Sanju Samson and head coach Rahul Dravid.
The embattled franchise could be without their talismanic skipper for the home game as he is yet to recover from the side strain he suffered during RR’s Super Over loss to Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi.
But within the injury scare, there was another story brewing in the RR camp as social media was rife with rumours of a rift between captain and coach.
Super Over rift?
The rumours picked up during a supposed incident prior to the start of the Super Over against DC. Dravid was seen huddled in discussion with the team regarding strategy for the Super Over but captain Samson, who was near the dugout, did not participate in the planning.
Social media users observed that Samson’s body language showed apparent disconnect between captain and coach. Watch here:
However, the head coach has categorically denied any such friction exists between him and the captain, calling the rumours as “baseless”speculation and asserting the team’s unity ahead of the LSG clash and beyond.
Duo on ‘same page’
Speaking to the media on the eve of their game against LSG, RR’s head coach said: “I don’t know where these reports are coming from. Sanju and I are on the same page.
“He’s a very integral part of our team. He’s involved in each and every decision and discussion. Sometimes, when you lose games and things don’t go right, you face criticism and we can take it on our performances, but we can’t do anything about this baseless stuff.
“The spirit of the team is really good, I’m impressed with how hard these guys work. One of the things people don’t understand is how hurt the players feel when they don’t perform.”
The season for the 2008 IPL champions has been less than ideal. The Rajasthan side currently sit 8th in the standings with just 4 points from 7 matches so far and they come into the home game against LSG on the back of a hat trick of defeats.
Reports of a rift between captain and coach and potentially being without their best batsman is not the ideal prep for RR ahead of their home game at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium.
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