IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals’ players don’t appear too happy with Sanju Samson being captain – Virender Sehwag

Former Indian opener Virender Sehwag believes Rajasthan Royals’ players don’t appear too happy with Sanju Samson being their captain. Sehwag feels Samson mostly stays in his own bubble and thus he is taking time to get along with his players. Sehwag feels Samson body language looks a bit off-colour.

Meanwhile, Sanju Samson was handed over the captaincy baton after former skipper Steve Smith was released by the franchise. Samson is still young in his captaincy career and he is expected to get better with experience.

“Looking at his body language, his teammates don’t appear too happy with him being the captain. But this is a fact that if a player remains in his own and suddenly he is made the captain, it takes him time to talk to players, mix with them. So that I fell is proving to be difficult for Sanju Samson,” Sehwag said about the Rajasthan Royals captain in a video on Cricbuzz.

Sehwag added that Sanju Samson should back his bowlers even if they are getting hit by the opposition. The former swashbuckling Indian opener cited the example of Rishabh Pant, who is seen leading Delhi Capitals with aplomb and backs his players to the hilt even if they are taking a beating. 

“When a bowler gets taken for runs, it is important to see how the captain responds. I have noticed with Rishabh Pant that he goes and keeps his hands on the bowler’s shoulders and goes ‘It doesn’t matter. You’ll get hit for 40-50. But bowl according to your field’,” added Sehwag. 

“This helps the bowler retain his confidence in captain. Irrespective of what the result is, the captain should continue showing confidence of a bowler who is being taken for runs or even a batsman who isn’t scoring runs.”

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Royals haven’t had a great start to their campaign as they have lost three out of the five matches they have played. The inexperienced batting order has led to the team’s downfall and they will look to come up with collective performances in the coming matches. RR depend heavily on the shoulders of Sanju Samson, David Miller and Jos Buttler to do the bulk of the scoring.

The Sanju Samson-led team won their previous match against Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets. RR will play their next match against defending champions Mumbai Indians at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi on 29th April.