Sanju Samson Breaks Shane Warne Record of Most Wins as Captain For Rajasthan Royals in Indian Premier League

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Sanju Samson on Saturday (April 5) resumed captaincy and broke the record of late Australian legend Shane Warne by becoming the captain with the most wins for the Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

After BCCI Centre of Excellence's clearance to keep wickets, Samson reclaimed captaincy after playing only as a specialist batter and an impact substitute in the opening three games of the ongoing season under stand-in skipper Riyan Parag.

The 30-year-old Indian wicketkeeper-batter eclipsed Warne's feat during Rajasthan Royals' 50-run win over Punjab Kings (PBKS) in IPL 2025 at the New PCA Stadium in Mullanpur. This was Samson's 32nd win as RR captain, outdoing Warne's 31 wins. Warne captained RR from 2008-11, winning 31, losing 24.

Samson has been leading RR since 2021 and has won 32 matches, lost 29, and one ended with no result. He led RR to runners-up finish in 2022 to Gujarat Titans (GT) and playoffs in 2024. Apart from Warne and Samson, five others have led RR in IPL. Here is a look at the Royals' captains record so far:

Most wins as captain for RR in IPL

• Sanju Samson - 32 wins in 62 matches
• Shane Warne - 31 wins in 55 matches
• Rahul Dravid - 18 wins in 34 matches
• Steve Smith - 15 wins in 27 matches
• Ajinkya Rahane - 9 wins in 24 matches
• Shane Watson - 7 wins in 21 matches
• Riyan Parag - 1 win in 3 matches

Coming back to the match in Mullanpur, put into bat first, Yashasvi Jaiswal (67 in 45 balls, with three fours and five sixes) and Samson (38 in 26 balls, with six fours) shared an 89-run stand to kick start the innings.

Later, cameos from Riyan Parag (43* in 25 balls, with three fours and three sixes) and Shimron Hetmyer (20 in 12 balls, with two fours and a six) took RR to 205/4 in 20 overs. For PBKS, Lockie Ferguson (2/37) was top bowler, while Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen got one wicket each.

In response, PBKS was reduced to 43/4 after a opening spell burst by Jofra Archer, who removed Priyansh Arya and skipper Shreyas Iyer in the first over, and later ended with figures of 3 for 25 in his 4 overs.

PBKS put up a fight with an 88-run stand between Nehal Wadhera (62 in 41 balls, with five fours and three sixes) and Glenn Maxwell (30 in 21 balls, with three fours and a six) gave PBKS' hope. But, after their dismissals, PBKS lost their way and were restricted to 155/9 in 20 overs.

Apart from Archer, RR's victory was down to some fine bowling support from Sandeep Sharma (2/21) and Maheesh Theekshana (2/26). This was RR's second win in four matches in IPL 2025. The result saw them climb to seventh spot, while PBKS slipped to fourth after a flying start to the season.