IPL 2021: Kevin Pietersen Feels Captaincy Burden Might Be Affecting Sanju Samson

Former England cricketer Kevin Pietersen believes that the responsibility of being the captain of Rajasthan Royals (RR) has affected Sanju Samson’s batting. The Kerala wicket-keeper has been having frequent bouts of inconsistency over the years and has failed to deal with it.

RR lost their second match of the second leg against Delhi Capitals (DC) on Monday. Although Samson scored a fifty, he lacked support at the other end. He remained unbeaten in the run chase which is also the first case where Samson has stayed put at the crease in a losing cause.

“I absolutely love him as a batter. I think he is absolutely incredible. The way that he plays the pull shot, the way he can hit sixes, the way he manipulates the spinners around the ground and picks the gap.”

“When he scores a hundred, there aren’t many batsmen who are better to watch than him. It is just his inconsistency that you keep asking me about,” Pietersen reckoned.

He needs to do what KL Rahul does – Kevin Pietersen’s advice to Sanju Samson

Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper KL Rahul has reached unprecedented levels in his career after taking up the role of the captain. He has consistently been in contention to win the orange cap and is also the team’s most important batsman. Samson needs to follow Rahul’s template if he wants to gain some consistency in his batting, as per Pietersen.

“Is it because of his captaincy? Maybe he is thinking too much about his role as captain. He needs to do what KL Rahul does and say to himself – ‘you know what? I’m going to bat. My time is now to bat. I’ll captain another time, but my time right now is to bat,’” the former English batsman added.

Samson has amassed 351 runs in nine games so far for his side but two knocks account for nearly 200 runs in his tally. He will be looking to perform tonight when RR takes on already-eliminated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).

Also Read – IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals’ Inclination To Go For England Players Is Letting Them Down- Sanjay Manjrekar