Captaincy is not a huge challenge and it does not change the way I play: Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson can either memorize you with his elegant stroke play or leave you frustrated with his soft dismissals. Earmarked as a special talent. Samson has not quite lived up to those expectations and has failed to make it big in his so far short international career. But he just cannot ill afford to make any mistakes during the second half of the 14th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) while leading Rajasthan Royals and being their main batter.

The Royals had a mixed outing during the first half of the IPL, wherein a few injury blows to players like Jofra Archer and Ben Stokes robbed them of some firepower. But still, the side showed enough maturity with young players Chetan Sakariya and Karthik Tyagi stepping up. Samson’s captaincy too was lauded as the pressure of captaincy didn’t affect his batting.

His superb century while chasing a steep run chase against Punjab Kings almost carried the Royals home. The right-hand batter also displayed enough composure and calmness in holding Royals batting and has so far scored 277 runs from seven games at an average of 46.16 and at an incredible strike rate of 145.78. The Royals captain will yet again have to shoulder the bulk of his responsibility in the UAE leg of IPL starting from September 19.

I think captaincy is not a huge challenge: Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson was asked if captaincy in any way affects his batting to which he replied by saying that it is not a huge challenge, and his focus will be to take one ball at a time.

“I think it’s not a huge challenge for me. I think I have felt that before. I have experienced that before playing in this team or any other team. Whatever challenges or responsibilities you have, it has to be outside the ground actually. Once you are inside the ground, there are situations to deal with, there are bowlers to deal with. If there is a bowler you have to hit out of the park, you have to hit him out of the park,” Samson told Khaleej Times in an interview.

“I am not going to think about who is going to come up next or if I get out, what’s going to happen. The risk is very high in this format, so at the same time, the reward is also very nice. So, I think the risk is worth taking my game has been the same it should remain the same actually. The captaincy should never change the way I play. I would like to go out and dominate few matches, I might get out, and I might win few matches, so that’s as simple as that.”