Sanju Samson, the 26-year-old wicket-keeper from Kerala has been in the fray to play for the national side on a regular basis for at least a couple of years now. His flambuoyance with the bat has attracted the eyes of the cricket experts from all over the world but his consistency, rather the lack of it, has kept himself from breaking the door open to cement a spot in the national side.

The Rajasthan Royals (RR) have ensured he turns a page in his book with a new role, the captain of an IPL franchise. RR released their former skipper Steve Smith before IPL 2021 and made Samson their new leader. However, former Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir is not convinced with the youngster being enthralled with the responsibility so early.

IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals - List of players retained and released

Gambhir told Star Sports, "They didn't have too many options but according to me it is a bit too early for Sanju Samson to captain the Rajasthan Royals.They had players like Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes. If the English players are available for the entire IPL, I would have given it to Jos Buttler because he is a player who will play all the 14 matches in whatever form he might be in."

"So, I would have made Jos Buttler the captain and given the vice-captaincy to Sanju Samson because he has only recently played for India, so he would have a lot of pressure to cement his place and you know IPL is a very big factor, if you do well in the IPL then somewhere or the other you get considered for the national side in the T20 format," he added.

Gambhir also had a reason for stating that Samson shouldn't have been made skipper as he believes that some batsmen tend to curb their natural instincts when there is responsibility on their shoulders and that shouldn't happen with the Kerala cricketer.

"They have promoted Sanju Samson as a captain, it will have to be seen if the move will be successful like Rohit Sharma or if it will backfire because his form has to remain good. It is not neccessary that he bats in the same dangerous fashion once he becomes captain. A lot of the times you curb your natural instincts with responsibility, which you will not want from Sanju Samson," Gambhir concluded.

(With inputs from Star Sports)