Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson had recently said he is in the team to get crucial runs and not big runs.
Samson was able to hit the ground running on a lot of occasions in Tata IPL 2022 and played fearlessly. Former Indian wicket-keeper batter Saba Karim lauded Samson’s performances and said he played selfless cricket for RR in IPL 2022.
The flamboyant batter scored 458 runs in 17 matches for the inaugural champions at an average of 28.53 and an impressive strike rate of 146.79. He was the second highest run-getter for the franchise in the 15th edition of the tournament behind Orange Cap winner, Jos Buttler, who amassed 863 runs in 17 games.
During a discussion on India News, Saba heaped praise on Samson, saying: “Sanju Samson has reinvented himself this time. He played selfless cricket. His attempt is only that he should keep his strike rate high, score runs and attack the best bowlers, which he did in quite a few matches.”
Former Indian player reckons Sanju has improved his batting in the recent past and he is reaping rewards for putting in the hard work. But Karim also admitted that Samson could have been a bit more consistent.
“I agree there have been one or two instances where he has not scored the runs that were required on the big occasion but the finesse and timing are seen in Samson’s batting. I feel his batting has improved because of captaincy and he has become a more consistent performer.”
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals promoted Ravichandran Ashwin as a pinch-hitter in a couple of matches. Karim feels Samson made a mistake in those matches when he didn’t bat at one down.
“He made a mistake in one or two matches that he kept himself down the order, and don’t know why he sent R Ashwin ahead of him. In my opinion, if anyone had to go to bat after Jos Buttler at No. 3, it was Sanju Samson. Here Samson held himself back quite a few times, which according to me was not right.”
On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals had a good season as they qualified for the finals but could not cross the final hurdle against Gujarat Titans. However, Sanju Samson led from the front and did a fine job as a leader.
