IPL playerIndia2013 to 2026
Sanju Samson
On scorecards: SV Samson · Right-hand bat
Sanju Samson, a wicketkeeper-batter, has played fourteen IPL seasons for three franchises, and has scored 5,181 runs, the 9th-most in IPL history. In fourteen seasons the title has not yet come.
The arrival
Sanju Samson's first IPL season was 2013, with Rajasthan Royals, a signing made outside the auction.
That first season brought 11 matches and 206 runs.
The peak
The high point with the bat was 2024, for Rajasthan Royals: 531 runs at an average of 48.3, striking at 153.5 in a season when the league as a whole struck at 150.6, with 5 fifties, and a highest score of 86. It came in a season as captain. There were five seasons of 400 runs or more in all (2018, 2021, 2022, 2024 and 2026).
Measured against the league around it, though, the most destructive season was 2020: 375 runs at a strike rate of 158.9, 27 runs per hundred balls quicker than the IPL as a whole that year.
Franchise by franchise
2013 to 2015, Rajasthan Royals. 38 matches and 749 runs.
2016 to 2017, Delhi Daredevils. Bought at the 2016 auction for ₹4.20 cr. 28 matches and 677 runs.
2018 to 2025, Rajasthan Royals, second time round. Bought at the 2018 auction for ₹8 cr. 110 matches and 3,278 runs; captain in 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025.
2026, Chennai Super Kings. Arrived outside the auction. 14 matches and 477 runs.
4 spells with three franchises in all. The longest was with Rajasthan Royals, 2018 to 2025.
How the runs came
Across the career, Sanju Samson has struck at 141.1. The league around those same seasons, weighted by how much batting each one involved, struck at 137.2, so Sanju Samson has scored about 4 runs per hundred balls faster than the typical batter of the time. 61% of the runs came in fours and sixes: 432 fours and 243 sixes, the 6th-most sixes in IPL history.
The ball-by-ball record adds the detail. 34.3% of the balls Sanju Samson faced were dot balls, a lower share than 66% of the 140 batters who have faced 500 balls or more in the IPL. A six came every 15.1 balls, and a four every 8.5.
The fielding record: 90 catches, 28 run-outs and 19 stumpings, the stumpings a reminder of the gloves.
At the auction
Sanju Samson has gone under the hammer twice. The highest price was ₹8 cr, paid by Rajasthan Royals in 2018, more than 8 times the base price.
Seasons without an auction entry were played under a retention, a trade or a signing made outside the auction.
Where it stands
On the all-time IPL lists, among 810 players, Sanju Samson stands 9th for runs, 15th for matches played, 6th for sixes and 13th for player-of-the-match awards. The story is still being written: 2026 was another season with Chennai Super Kings.
Season by season
| Season | Team | M | Runs | HS | Avg | SR | 50/100 | Wkts | Econ | Best | Ct | POTM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Rajasthan Royals | 11 | 206 | 63 | 25.8 | 115.7 | 1/0 | – | – | – | 13 | 1 | |
| 2014 | Rajasthan Royals | 13 | 339 | 74 | 26.1 | 124.2 | 2/0 | – | – | – | 7 | ||
| 2015 | Rajasthan Royals | 14 | 204 | 76 | 20.4 | 125.2 | 1/0 | – | – | – | 9 | ||
| 2016 | Delhi Daredevils | 14 | 291 | 60 | 26.5 | 112.4 | 1/0 | – | – | – | 4 | 1 | |
| 2017 | Delhi Daredevils | 14 | 386 | 102 | 27.6 | 141.4 | 2/1 | – | – | – | 4 | 1 | |
| 2018 | Rajasthan Royals | 15 | 441 | 92* | 31.5 | 137.8 | 3/0 | – | – | – | 5 | 2 | |
| 2019 | Rajasthan Royals | 12 | 342 | 102* | 38.0 | 148.7 | 0/1 | – | – | – | 5 | ||
| 2020 | Rajasthan Royals | 14 | 375 | 85 | 28.8 | 158.9 | 3/0 | – | – | – | 11 | 2 | |
| 2021 | Rajasthan Royals | 14 | 484 | 119 | 40.3 | 136.7 | 2/1 | – | – | – | 11 | 1 | Captain |
| 2022 | Rajasthan Royals | 17 | 458 | 55 | 28.6 | 146.8 | 2/0 | – | – | – | 16 | 1 | Captain |
| 2023 | Rajasthan Royals | 14 | 362 | 66* | 30.2 | 153.4 | 3/0 | – | – | – | 6 | Captain | |
| 2024 | Rajasthan Royals | 15 | 531 | 86 | 48.3 | 153.5 | 5/0 | – | – | – | 7 | 2 | Captain |
| 2025 | Rajasthan Royals | 9 | 285 | 66 | 31.7 | 140.4 | 1/0 | – | – | – | 5 | Captain | |
| 2026 | Chennai Super Kings | 14 | 477 | 115* | 43.4 | 165.6 | 1/2 | – | – | – | 6 | 3 |
Franchise journey
- Rajasthan Royals: 2013 to 2015
- Delhi Daredevils: 2016 to 2017
- Rajasthan Royals: 2018 to 2025
- Chennai Super Kings: 2026
Ball-by-ball detail
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Dot balls faced | 34.3% |
| Balls per four | 8.5 |
| Balls per six | 15.1 |
| Catches | 90 |
| Run-outs | 28 |
| Stumpings | 19 |
At the auction
Sources
- CricArcade IPL season statistics
- CricArcade IPL auction archive
- Kaggle IPL Complete Match Dataset 2008-2026, ball-by-ball, cross-checked against Cricsheet