Rajasthan Royals says Sanju Samson Twitter controversy was a prank

It has been a baffling 24 hours for Twitter followers of IPL side Rajasthan Royals following an incident involving team captain Sanju Samson.

The Twitter admin of Royals is popular on the social media platform for the quirky content involving its players and the banter with other teams. But yesterday, after posting an edited picture of Samson, the player seemingly called out the admin of the official handle, saying that teams need to be professional.

The original edited picture was deleted and the team posted an official statement stating that it would be making changes to it approach to social media and a new team would be appointed to operate the various handles.

It caused confusion and shock on Twitter, some users suggesting that an issue like this should have been settled internally. But the team responded within a few hours with a comic video of the admin being ‘fired’ including the reaction of various players.

This morning, the handle posted another video of a ‘fake audition’ for a new admin, adding that yesterday’s events were part of a prank. The video features players like Yuzvendra Chahal and Shimron Hetmyer, and credits two popular cricket-related Twitter handles for their involvement in the prank—they had broken the news yesterday of the admin’s firing.

There is also some speculation that the videos and the elaborately orchestrated prank scenario were made up later on to cover up Samson’s genuine irritation with the original post of him.

Rajasthan Royals play their first match of the 2022 IPL on Tuesday against Sunrisers Hyderabad. The tournament begins today with defending champions Chennai Super Kings taking on Kolkata Knight Riders.