Rajasthan Royals (RR) batsman Jos Buttler believes that captaining the RR in the recently suspended Indian Premier League (IPL 2021) was a great experience for Sanju Samson, saying the young skipper was really growing into the role as the tournament progressed.
Before the start of the IPL 2021, Samson had replaced Australia’s Steve Smith as the Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain in January. The Kerala wicketkeeper was impressive as captain in the IPL 14, where the RR won three of their seven fixtures, though, the 2008 champions lost a couple of close games.
RR was at the fifth position with 6 points from 7 games in the IPL 2021 points table before the T20 league was suspended on May 4 due to the rising COVID-19 cases inside the bio-bubble.
Buttler said in a webinar organized by RR, “It was a great learning experience for him. And I think, as the tournament was going along, at the halfway stage, he was really growing into the role, looking to put together some better, more consistent performances towards the end of the season as a side.”
The England wicketkeeper-batsman said he really enjoyed playing under Samson in the IPL 14 and said the youngster remains the same personality while being the leader of the RR.
Hailing Samson both as person and captain, Buttler noted: “I've really enjoyed playing under Sanju's captaincy. I don't think it changed him at all as a person. He's quite a free-spirited, very relaxed kind of guy and he tried to get that across to the team and that's how he wanted us to play as a side.”
He concluded, “It is really important as a leader to be authentic, and I think Sanju is very much that.”
(With PTI Inputs)
