Jaipur: Rajasthan Royals on Thursday announced the signing of four talented new players who will represent the team in the upcoming Pepsi Indian Premier League 2013. Sanju Samson, Sachin Baby, Rahul Shukla and Harmeet Singh will provide fresh energy to the 2008 IPL champions and will join the team’s training camp very soon to prepare for the 6th edition of the twenty20 league.
Kerala’s 18-year-old wicket-keeper Sanju Viswanath Samson has been representing his state team since his Ranji debut in 2011 against Vidarbha. The budding U-19 Asia Cup star hit two centuries in the Ranji Trophy last season and attended the Rajasthan Royals selection trials on January 27, 28 & 29th. The right-handed Samson was recently appointed vice-captain of the Kerala team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Samson’s teammate and captain of Kerala team for the Vijay Hazare Trophy, Sachin Baby, will also join Rajasthan Royals for the 2013 season. Baby has been a consistent performer for his state for the last few years and was among the top run-scorers in the invitational Buchi Babu Tournament and Vijay Hazare Trophy for his state.
The 24-year-old left-handed batsman made his first class debut against Andhra Pradesh in 2009. Since then, Baby has appeared in 14 first class and domestic matches, and has scored 492 runs with a highest score of 104 at an average of 49.20.
Jharkhand bowler Rahul Shukla will add more weight to the bowling attack of Rajasthan Royals. The 22-year-old right-arm medium pacer made his first class debut in 2009 against Tripura and played 11 matches for his state team.. Shukla has played in the IPL in the 2010 and 2012 seasons and took seven wickets at 15.71 from four Twenty20 games with an economy rate of 7.17
Recruited a few months back, Mumbai’s young spinner Harmeet Singh has represented India in two Under-19 ICC World Cups in 2010 and 2012. In the 2012 U-19 World Cup, he was one of the main pillars of India, helping win the title with his economy rate of 3.02. The 20-year-old slow left-arm orthodox bowler led Mumbai at the U-16 and U-19 levels before making a magnificent first-class debut in 2009, when he grabbed a match-winning seven wickets against Himachal Pradesh.
All the four youngsters will play under the leadership of captain Rahul Dravid and vastly experienced high performance coach Paddy Upton in the sixth season of the Pepsi Indian Premier League.
Rahul Dravid, Captain, Rajasthan Royals, said, “The Indian Premier League has been an excellent platform for encouraging the growth of fresh talent in our country. Rajasthan Royals has always been at the forefront in identifying and providing adequate opportunities to upcoming cricketers. These four confident players will provide more depth and variation to our team during IPL 2013."
Raghu Iyer, CEO, Rajasthan Royals, said, “As a team, we have been very passionate about nurturing and promoting young and promising Indian talent. We believe there are many budding cricketers out there who need to be given the right platform to perform. We are thrilled to be giving four aspiring players an opportunity to play with us and are confident that their skills will be an asset to the squad.”
Adding strength to different areas of the game for the team, the four Indians will join Rajasthan Royals’ squad made up of an impressive blend of young and experienced players.
By Indian Sports News Network