May 28, 2022, 3:07 PM IST
It has been a sensational effort from Rajasthan Royals (RR) in the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). It has sailed into the IPL 2022 Final, where it will take on new team Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday. Meanwhile, a lot of credit is being given to RR skipper Sanju Samson, who has turned the fortunes of the side upside down since taking over the leadership duties for the side in IPL 2021. Samson prepares to lead RR in the final for the first time since the side last played the same during IPL 2008 and won it under then-captain cum coach Shane Warne, while RR's Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara is all-praise for the former.
Speaking on Friday during the post-match press conference after RR beat Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by seven wickets in Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad, Sangakkara affirmed, "Sanju has been exceptional. Last season, he started with quite a tough test with a young side and many upheavals because of COVID bubbles, the tournament of two halves, but he has grown into his role."
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"He [Samson] is a very soft-spoken, very reserved individual. He is exceptionally skilled with the bat. He has shown a lot of passion and hunger to take on this testing role of captaincy. Wicket-keeping, captaining and being the best batter on your side along with Jos Buttler is not an easy role to fill, but he has done it well this season. He has become more and more aware of what his role is. His tactical awareness has improved right throughout. He has trusted his team. The team looks up to him as a leader," added Sangakkara.
Sangakkara also had words of acclaim for English opener Jos Buttler, whose four centuries for RR this season have been essential. "It's hard to describe what he has done for us this season regarding T20 batting. He started 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 declared.
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"He [Buttler] accepted that he is mortal. He is a human and can't be at that high level of excellence every single day. He can accelerate at any point. He has got all the strokes. He understands the game well. I can't remember anyone batting this well in the history of the IPL," concluded Sangakkara. Watch his entire presser video above.