Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen recently admitted that he is in ‘awe of the way Sanju Samson plays his shots’ and the time the right-hand batsman has while batting. Samson who is leading his side Rajasthan Royals (RR) in IPL 2021 hit the first century of the tournament.
“I just love Sanju Samson every single year. I’m just in absolute awe of the way he plays his shots and the time that he has to play shots. His century against the Punjab Kings was absolutely magnificent and he was very unlucky not to get his side over the line,” Pietersen told Betway.
The former right-hand batsman then talked about having consistency in his performances as there have been no significant performances after his ton.
“It’s a marathon, not a sprint, and we don’t want this to be the only innings worth talking about for a few weeks, so we should be wary that he only scored four in Rajasthan’s second match against Delhi Capitals,” the 40-year-old said.
With English all-rounder Ben Stokes leaving and Jofra Archer not available for this season, responsibilities on Samson are going to be immense.
“His responsibilities are going to another level now that he is the Royals’ captain, though, and he must also cover the hole left by Ben Stokes in that batting line-up. As captain you start thinking about others as well as yourself, which can go one of two ways. You can lose your basics and go off the boil, but it can also liberate you because you’re not constantly thinking about your own game,” he said.
Sanju Samson and Co. will be in action as they take on Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Saturday (24 April) at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
(With Betway inputs)
