AB de Villiers thinks this IPL captain can lead India but he is not Hardik Pandya
Rajasthan Royals appointed the 28-year-old as the captain of India in 2021 and he smashed a fifty on his captaincy debut. In the 2022 season, Samson guided the Pink army to the final of the 2022 Indian Premier League for the first time since 2008.
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AB de Villiers, Rohit Sharma, Hardik Pandya
The legendary South Africa batter AB de Villiers backed Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson to captain India after Rohit Sharma. De Villiers believes that the Kerala-born wicketkeeper-batter has all the credentials to be a wonderful captain.
Though Samson’s fanbase is huge in India, he doesn’t get much backing from the selectors because there’s no place for him in the playing XI. He has not played for India since January this year.
Rajasthan Royals appointed the 28-year-old as the captain of India in 2021 and he smashed a fifty on his captaincy debut. In the 2022 season, Samson guided the Pink army to the final of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL) for the first time since 2008. In the final, they were easily defeated by Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans.
Samson made his debut for India in 2015 in a T20I match against Zimbabwe. He has so far represented India in just 17 matches in the shortest format, scoring 301 runs with one half-century. He has scored 330 runs in the 11 ODIs he has played. Over the years, Samson has accumulated 3623 runs from the 140 IPL matches he has played so far, with three centuries and 18 half-centuries.
AB de Villiers thinks Sanju Samson can learn a lot from Jos Buttler
Owing to the IPL victory, many started wanting Pandya to become the next skipper, at least in the shortest format, after Rohit Sharma. But de Villiers backed Samson and claimed that his composure is a good sign as a captain.
“Sanju Samson, we all know, is an incredible player, but what’s his captaincy like? I think the first thing that comes to mind for me is his composure. Calm, relaxed kind of guy. He never seems to be fussed by anything, which is a very good sign as a captain,” de Villiers said on Jio Cinema.
“Strategically I think he can still improve and will still improve over time as he gets more experience and spends more time with someone like Jos Buttler, which is a fantastic asset for him to have in his ear all the time. He’s got so much to learn there,” the former Proteas skipper added. Buttler-led England defeated Pakistan in the 2022 World Cup and became the champion for the second time.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals are atop of the points table after yesterday’s comfortable victory over Delhi Capitals. They started their campaign with a thumping win over Sunrisers Hyderabad by 72 runs.
But the Pink brigade fell short of just five runs while chasing a huge total against Punjab Kings. Against Delhi, they won the match by 57 runs. Now Sanju Samson and co. will be gearing up for their upcoming match against MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on April 12, at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
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Gouri Das
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