"Really impressed by seeing him": RR assistant coach Shane Bond hails skipper Sanju Samson
May 06, 2024
New Delhi [India], May 6 : Ahead of his side's match against Delhi Capitals (DC) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Rajasthan Royals' assistant coach Shane Bond said he is impressed by skipper Sanju Samson.
In IPL 2024, Samson played 10 matches for the Rajasthan-based franchise and scored 385 runs at a strike rate of 159.09.
While speaking at the pre-match press conference before they take on Delhi, Bond called Samson a 'fun and a great guy'. The assistant coach added the RR skipper has been dealing well with the senior and young cricketers in the squad.
"I am really impressed by seeing Sanju. He is a fun guy and a great guy. He is managing his time really well dealing with senior players and youngsters," Bond said.
He further talked about RR's previous encounter against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) and said they could have easily won the match. However, he also pointed out that they are happy to have eight victories under their belt.
"It would be nice to win the last game and we would like to finish on top. We should have won the game against SRH but that's part of the game. We have lost only two games so far. It is nice to have 8 wins under our belt," he added.
As the England Cricket Board (ECB) announced English players who are included in their T20 World Cup 2024 squad could not take part in the IPL 2024 playoffs, Bond said Jos Buttler's absence will be a big loss for them since he is a "terrific" player.
"Jos absence in playoffs will be a big loss. He is a terrific player. When I was with Mumbai Indians then he went in the middle of the tournament but we still won the tournament. But that's part and parcel of the game. We miss some players due to injury and some due to playoffs. KKR will lose Phil Salt and other teams will also lose players," he further added.
The Royals are holding the second place in the IPL 2024 standings with 16 points after winning 8 of 10 matches. They are coming into this match after losing against the Hyderabad-based franchise by just one run.
Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (Wk/C), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sandeep Sharma, Jos Buttler, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Shubham Dubey, Navdeep Saini, Tanush Kotian, Keshav Maharaj, Nandre Burger, Kuldeep Sen, Donovan Ferreira, Abid Mushtaq, Kunal Singh Rathore.
