WATCH: Skipper Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag Arrive For Rajasthan Royals' Pre-Season Camp

The excitement is growing multi-fold as the first day of the new edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) draws near. The action of the biggest T20 league in the world is set to begin on March 22. The first game of IPL 2024 will be played between defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.

All the players have been joining the respective franchises for the pre-season training camp, and the latest to do so were Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) Riyan Parag and Sanju Samson.

On Wednesday, Rajasthan Royals posted a video of the arrival of Riyan Parag on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). “Assam se Jaipur tak. Welcome, Riyan Parag,” the caption for the video on X read. The batting all-rounder was greeted with a pink Rajasthan Royals scarf and a tika on his forehead in typical Rajasthani fashion.

Rajasthan Royals followed that up by uploading another video of skipper Sanju Samson, using the song ‘Hukum’ from Rajinikanth-starrer Jailer, which was released last year. “Chettan” has arrived at his den!”, wrote the Rajasthan-based franchise on X.

Parag was signed by Rajasthan Royals for Rs 50 lakh ahead of IPL 2019, following an excellent showing at the 2018 ICC Men’s Under-19 Cricket World Cup. Parag, 16 at the time, scored a half-century in his debut IPL season to become the youngest player in the history of the tournament to score a fifty.

Samson, meanwhile, will continue to operate as the franchise’s captain in IPL 2024. Like Riyan Parag, Samson was also scouted by Rajasthan Royals in the 2012 U19 World Cup. He was roped in 2013 and was one of the emerging stars of IPL 2013. The Kerala-born batsman has been a mainstay of the team ever since, barring the two seasons when he played for Delhi Capitals (then known as Delhi Daredevils) due to RR’s two-year suspension. The 29-year-old was appointed as the skipper of the team in 2021 and led the team to the final of IPL 2022, where his side lost to debutants Gujarat Giants.

Last season, RR won seven games and lost as many to finish in fifth place as they missed out on a playoff spot by a whisker. This year they will be raring to go the distance and win their first IPL title since they won it in 2008.