Jaipur, April 23: Mild mannered Sanju Samson is a class act. A smart cricketer. He might not have lived up to the high expectations in international circuit, but there is no doubt about his potentials.
Agreed, Samson has not been a consistent member of Indian squad. He has been in and out of Team India on a few occasions in recent years.
But in the last couple of seasons, Samson has matured as a leader for Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the Indian Premier League (IPL).
He has led several seasoned international icons including Jos Buttler, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Kesav Maharaj, to name a few in the Rajasthan squad. Buttler and Maharaj have led their respective nations in international cricket. Ashwin has led IPL side Punjab Kings too.
Samson however, has been a fast learner and a smart captain. He has grown under the able guidance, affinity and support of his senior teammates. This season he has been exceptional. His side too presently are at the top of the Points Table with seven wins from eight games.
Samson's leadership has impressed many, including Australia's former World Cup winning skipper Aaron Finch.
After RR pulled up a 9 wicket victory over Mumbai Indians on Monday evening, Finch shed light on how skipper Samson has performed this season and hailed his captaincy while highlighting "how calm RR have been when they're under pressure."
A five-star performance from Sandeep Sharma (5-18) and an authoritative century from Yashasvi Jaiswal (104 not out off 60) powered RR to a nine-wicket win over Mumbai Indians. Samson provided able support to Jaiswal with his 38 off 28 balls as the duo put together an unbroken 109 off 65 balls.
"He's been playing really mature innings and that's what is required for the team. I think in times of T20 cricket, the ego of the batsman can get in the way of what the team needs sometimes but he's been playing each and every situation exactly how it's needed to be done," Finch said on Star Sports Cricket Live.
"I think he's leading the side unbelievably well, you can see how calm the Rajasthan Royals are when they're under pressure. And I think that the only game they lost was when they had that meltdown against GT right at the back end of the game, so they've been so clinical right throughout this IPL and a lot of credit has to go to Sanju for that," he added.
Meanwhile, former West Indies cricketer Brian Lara lauded Yashasvi's unbeaten century against MI, noting his impressive display of responsibility and maturity. Lara emphasised the opener's approach of taking his time, focusing on the ball from the outset, and executing proper cricketing shots.
"Yeah, Beautiful. But the fact of the matter is, he's taking his time, looking at the ball right from up at the back, and he's playing cricketing shots. He's got all the stuff, he doesn't have to worry about it. And when you do get on top of the bowlers, that's when you take it back, because that's what I love about Yashasvi.
"It was well put together, great cricketing shots, he's managed throughout the innings, and anyone knows, if you're chasing such a good total, at Jaipur and you bounce through the innings, you're soon as going to get there. So he's shown a lot of responsibility, a lot of maturity, and I'm very happy to have him back," said Lara.
The West Indian also lauded Sandeep's five-wicket haul which restricted MI batting to 179/9 and called him a true professional. He also said that the right-arm pacer is repaying Rajasthan Royals for their belief in him, noting the fact that Sandeep went unsold a couple of years ago, and came in as a replacement player.
"Very, very big impact, and also mentioned the fact that he went unsold a couple of years ago, and came in as a replacement player, and this man is cherishing every moment he has out in the middle. You know, every cricketer in India wants to play in the IPL, and they want to play continuously, and that disappointment of not being selected in an IPL auction, he's now repaying Rajasthan Royals for their belief in him, he is a true professional.
"I've watched him over the years, he's not express-paced, he's not, you know, one of the boys that, you know, everyone talks about, but he gets the job done every time he goes out in the middle, and he's just that consummate professional that every team likes to have in their ranks," said Lara.
Coming back to the RR captain Samson. It is often said, a captain is as good as a team. Presently, Rajasthan Royals appear to be on a roll, they appear to be invincible. In such a scenario, their skipper Sanju Sampson, the silent cricketer from God's own land Kerala, has every reason to be appreciated. Finch ahs rightly lauded Samson's smart captaincy. (With IANS support)
