Rajasthan Royals (RR) director of cricket operations and Sri Lankan legend Kumar Sangakkara has lauded the franchise captain Sanju Samson as a terrific T20 player and a batter who is magnificent, and a match-winner.
Recently, even India captain Rohit Sharma had lauded the 27-year-old from Kerala, saying Samson’s batting prowess could come in handy for the Indian team in the upcoming T20 World Cup 2022 on Australian pitches.
Samson was retained by the RR franchise along with Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal and will captain the side in the IPL 2022 which begins from March 26 onwards.
During the Clubhouse conversation on Red Bull Cricket, Kumar Sangakkara said about Sanju Samson: “Irrespective of him being the captain or the future of RR, he is one of the best T20 players. He is a magnificent player, destructive, match-winner, has every ability that you want in a batter. He was captain before I took over last season. I have come to know him really well and admire him. He’s got such a passion for RR. He started here, he values that.
He is a captain who is willing to admit that he doesn’t know everything as yet and he is going to grow into it. He’s got natural leadership qualities. He’s going to get better and better."
In IPL 2021, Samson scored 484 runs in 14 games at 40.33 and with a strike rate of 136.72 which included a century and two half-centuries.
“He’s a simple guy, a man of few words, very grounded. He’s absolutely suited for this job and it’s made working with him so much easier and fun. He’s got a sense of humor as well, and it comes out once in a while. He’s got a lot of pride, he wants to win. All I can do is give him the best support to be able to be that leader he knows he can be," Sangakkara further praised Samson.
RR will begin their IPL 2022 against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Pune on March 29.
