With new leadership group and personnel, Rajasthan Royals have the foundations to taste success in IPL 2021. Sanju Samson is looking ahead to lead Rajasthan Royals for the first time after the franchise parted ways with Steve Smith.
Samson has been a mainstay for Rajasthan Royals during his IPL career. He briefly played for Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) when the Royals were suspended. Apart from those two years, Samson has been donning pink and blue colours for Rajasthan. While talking to Hindustan Times, Samson insisted that he is honored to lead Rajasthan Royals.
“I look at captaincy as more of a service to the team. A captain is someone who is there to provide the right kind of atmosphere that every individual requires in a team and backs each one of them. It’s a lot about man-management skills—giving positive feedback to your players, understanding where they are coming from. Playing for one team for this long to now becoming captain, it’s a proud moment.”
Samson also admitted that he got text messages from Indian current captain Virat Kohli and from former captain MS Dhoni of team India when he was announced as captain of Rajasthan Royals.
The right-hand batsman from Kerala featured for RR since 2013. He has played 79 games for RR, scoring almost 2584 IPL runs. Samson was the top run-scorer for RR last season with 375 runs in 14 innings. The 26-year-old will be looking forward to having much more consistency this season with his and the team’s form.
Samson thrilled to work with Sangakkara
Samson also admitted that he is blessed to work with Kumar Sangakkara. He believes that the presence of Sri Lankan great will relieves the pressure of him. Sangakkara was appointed as Director of Cricket at RR earlier this year. The Sri Lankan batsman had featured in IPL for Punjab in the past.
Rajasthan Royals had a dismal IPL 2020 as they ended up finishing last in the points table. The franchise was busy in the auction to bolster the squad as they broke the record of the most expensive player by getting Chris Morris for Rs 16.25 crores. Samson is excited to work with Morris, but refused to add pressure of expectations on him. Rajasthan begins IPL 2021 against Punjab Kings on April 12 in Mumbai.