IPL 2021: ‘It is crucial to give an individual or opening partners enough time’ – Sanju Samson looking to achieve stability on captaincy debut; Kumar Sangakkara rues the absence of Jofra Archer

After a dreadful season in 2020, Rajasthan Royals are all set to take the new season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) by storm. The Royals’ new skipper, Sanju Samson, is looking to achieve stability in the side early on in the tournament. A lack of consistency in the batting order saw them suffer in UAE last season.

And Samson is keen on filling the voids on his captaincy debut. The young batsman opines that it is important to give players time to settle into their roles in a league as competitive as the IPL. It will be interesting to see what the RR side looks like this season under Samson’s leadership.

“Actually, it depends, me and Sanga will be trying to give the best combination for the team. From my point of view, it is crucial to give an individual or opening partners enough time in the tournament. So, a bit of stability will be seen in the tournament and the rest is dependent upon how we go ahead,” Samson said in a virtual press conference.

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The Kerala batsman is renowned for his attacking style of play and he is confident of reflecting the same in his captaincy style. Samson shares that he has immense faith on his side and he will be backing his players to play fearlessly in the middle. He adds that this attitude is exactly what “this tournament demands”.

“Nothing much has to be changed, I truly believe in my own players and all supporting staff. It is all about trusting yourself and going there and expressing yourself.“

“This format demands that kind of attitude. We like to believe that everyone is thinking with the almost same mindset so the players’ mindset is almost the same to go out and play some good cricket and enjoy their fearless attitude. That is what we stick to and that is what this tournament demands. So, we keep it that way,” Samson added.

“Jofra Archer’s absence is a big blow for us,” Kumar Sangakkara

A surgery on his bowling arm last month saw England pacer Jofra Archer get ruled out of the early stages of the league. Rajasthan Royals’ Director of Cricket , Kumar Sangakkara admits that it is a huge blow for the team. It was Archer who spearheaded the Royals’ attack last season and was mighty impressive.

“Sanju and I will both agree that it’s a big blow for us. Jofra is a very vital part of our make-up and not having him is unfortunately the reality of it. We have to work around it and plan contingencies,” Sangakkara was quoted by PTI.

Archer’s absence leaves RR with not many options in the bowling department. Barring the likes of Ben Stokes and Chris Morris, RR has no experienced candidates to field. Yet, Sangakkara sees a ray of hope in the Rajasthan’s young brigade. The Sri Lankan feels that the young quicks will be able to spring a huge surprise in the league.

“Inexperience can probably work for you and it could mean that opposition hasn’t seen you either. Fast bowling in IPL is not an easy task and we saw that yesterday (Delhi Capitals vs Chennai Super Kings) as well,‘ he added.

“Most of the wickets are good for batting. So, you have to be quite skillful. We have Kartik Tyagi, who did pretty well last season in patches and this year we have new additions (pacer) Kuldeep Yadav and Chetan Sakariya.“

Rajasthan Royals will lock horns against Punjab Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday.

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