IPL 2022: Sanju Samson has been exceptional as player and skipper, says Kumar Sangakkara
IPL 2022: Sanju Samson is “special,” feels Rajasthan Royals director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara, since the Keralan has excelled in the IPL’s triple roles of wicket-keeping, captaincy, and batting.
On Friday, RR comfortably defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore by seven wickets to reach their first IPL final since 2008 and a chance at a second title.
“Sanju has been exceptional. He started off with quite a tough test last season with a young side. And lot of upheaval because of COVID bubbles, tournament of two halves. But he has really grown into his role,” Sangakkara said at the post-match press conference.
“He is very soft-spoken, very reserved individual. Also he is exceptionally skilled with the bat. He has shown a lot of passion and hunger to taking on this testing role of captaincy. Wicket-keeping, captaining and being the best batter in your side along with Jos Buttler is not an easy kind of role to fill. But he has done it really well this season,” he added.
The legendary Sri Lankan feels that Samson has become more aware of his role in the team.
“He has become more and more aware of what his role is. His tactical awareness has improved right throughout. He has really trusted his team. The team really looks up to him as a leader,” the former Lankan skipper added.
Jos Buttler, an Englishman, has been outstanding with the bat for RR, scoring 824 runs in 16 games, including four hundreds and as many fifties.
Sangakkara also stated that he has never seen anyone bat with such authority in the IPL’s history as Buttler did this season.
“It’s hard to describe what he (Buttler) has done for us this season in terms of T20 batting. He started off well, he had a little bit of a flutter at one point in the tournament but then he just calmed himself down, had a lot of good conversations rather than just training,” he said.
“He accepted that he is mortal, he is a human and can’t be at that high level of excellence every single day. Also he can accelerate at any point, he has got all the strokes. He understands the game really well. I can’t remember anyone batting this well in the history of the IPL.”
Sangakkara stated his work was made easier by having a core group of nine players.
“That’s an advantage of having an experienced side. We have a core group of nine players with exceptional experience and skill and around them. Also we have young guys and some very senior players in the bench. What I have to do as a coach is very little. It is just about being responsible of what has happened, owning it as a unit.
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