Sanju Samson seems to be in a confident mood ahead of IPL 2021. The young skipper feels the Rajasthan Royals have one of the best IPL squads on paper.
Sanju Samson will be leading his franchise the Rajasthan Royals for the first time in IPL 2021. Although the Kerala batsman has captained at the domestic level, it will be the first instance of him leading an IPL franchise.
Sanju Samson Expects Rajasthan Royals To Play Fearless Cricket
The 26-year-old spoke to the Hindustan Times days before the start of IPL 2021, shedding light on his vision for the road ahead for Rajasthan Royals.
“I don’t think we did too much wrong in the last season. If you look at our XI on paper, we’re one of the best. So, I would like to tell everyone that we are a great bunch of players and we just need to play some good cricket. If we are in the right mindset as a team, I believe good things are ahead of us,” said Samson.
Sanju Samson wants Rajasthan Royals who have the likes of big hitters Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, and Rahul Tewatia in their ranks, to play a fearless brand of cricket in IPL 2021.
“This format demands a lot of fearless cricket, be it in batting, bowling or fielding. It’s all about speed, power and expressing yourself. That’s what I expect from my team,” added Samson.
Not a single Rajasthan batsman performed consistently through the IPL 2020 season. Sanju Samson started strong but he failed to sustain his form. Ben Stokes missed nearly half the season but showed what he’s capable of with a superb century against Mumbai Indians as an opener. However, consistency eluded him.
A lot was expected of Jos Buttler but he too had an underwhelming season, both at the top of the order and in the middle. Rahul Tewatia was undoubtedly impressive lower down the order and punched well above his weight, finishing the season as the only Indian player with 10+ wickets and 250+ runs.
On the bowling front, the 25-year-old Jofra Archer was lethal throughout, dismissing the best batsmen in the league and giving nothing away in his spells. Shreyas Gopal was far from his best and the likes of Jaydev Unadkat and Ankit Rajpoot were taken to cleaners by batsmen at will. Young Kartik Tyagi showed sparks but was a tad expensive.
Sanju Samson Won’t Like To Put Chris Morris Under Too Much Pressure
Sanju Samson is expected to do the bulk of the scoring for the Rajasthan Royals this season. Chris Morris, the most expensive player in IPL history, is another vital player for RR. With England pacer Jofra Archer’s availability for IPL 2021 still uncertain, Chris Morris could have to bowl at the death.
But Sanju Samson was quick not to put too much pressure on the South African all-rounder, claiming each RR player has a definite role to play.
“I would not like to put him (Morris) under too much pressure or tell him that he’s the biggest member of this team. Everyone has a big role to play; even someone bowling one over might have a crucial role,” said Samson.
Chris Morris was bought by the Rajasthan Royals for a whopping ₹16.25 crore at the IPL 2021 Auction, with the South African expected to be the side’s frontline pacer this season. He picked up 11 wickets at a stunning economy of 6.63 last season for RCB, and Sanju Samson is looking forward to working with the pacer in IPL 2021.
“But we’re excited to have Morris back. He’s a very happy-go-lucky person, someone who likes to keep the atmosphere light. But when he enters the ground, he is a completely different person—competitive and eager to win matches. It’s great to have an individual like that in the team,” concluded Samson.
Sanju Samson scored 375 runs averaging 28.84 in IPL 2020 with 3 fifties. He has amassed 2584 runs in 107 IPL games averaging 27.78. He played for Rajasthan Royals from 2013 except in 2016-2017 when RR was banned.
RR will play their first IPL 2021 game against the Punjab Kings in Mumbai on April 12.
Probable Rajasthan Royals XI: Yasahasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler (wk), Sanju Samson (c), Ben Stokes, Shivam Dube, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Mustafizur Rahman, Kartik Tyagi, Jaydev Unadkat