Senior off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin has made an interesting revelation about his Rajasthan Royals captain, Sanju Samson, ahead of the upcoming IPL 2024 season.
R Ashwin has been playing in the IPL with Sanju Samson in the last two seasons. The franchise reached the IPL 2022 final, but lost it to Hardik Pandya’s Gujarat Titans, and failed to reach the playoffs last season.
Speaking about his RR captain’s off-field demeanor, R Ashwin said that the Kerala captain is hilarious with his friends and teammates. Ashwin feels he and Sanju Samson get along so well because of being from South India, so there is no language barrier between them.
“Sanju is extremely funny off the field. I am not sure a lot of people understand that or probably know that. It’s a problem of perfection a lot of people battle how you see someone on the ground and how they are off it, it’s completely different,” Ashwin said on a Star Sports show.
“That’s how Sanju is, he speaks Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil and we connect a lot. I am a Tamil cinema buff and we connect there and he gets humor. A lot of people who speak Tamil and are not natively from Chennai or somewhere inside the state, don’t get the internal humor because a lot of humor comes from the movies.”
“Sanju because he watches so much cinema, he gets it. We straightaway bond there. We share a lot of laugh and riot.”
I find Sanju Samson as a young captain who is phenomenal: R Ashwin
While playing under Samson at Rajasthan Royals, Ashwin managed to make a comeback in the Indian white-ball teams through his canny bowling performances during the IPL. Ashwin says that his RR captain is open to all suggestions from his bowlers, and then considering them tries to make judicious calls on the field.
The 37-year-old off-spinner added: “On the field, I try and give him inputs as I see how the game is panning out. However, that relationship off the field doesn’t come on the field. It’s generally that younger brother, elder brother sort of a relationship off it. On the field, we are able to switch off. I do what he wants and give my inputs and then he takes what he wants and gets on with it. I find Sanju as a young captain, he is able to differentiate, and demarcate both which is phenomenal.”
#SanjuSamson = funny? 😮@ashwinravi99 talks about his @rajasthanroyals captain and how they bond like brothers off the field and professionals on it!
Will the c Samson b Ashwin combination light up the #IPLOnStar season?
Be sure to watch IPL on Star Sports from MARCH 22. pic.twitter.com/X8XAbjuAd5
— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) March 4, 2024
The IPL 2024 will kick start on March 22, and Rajasthan will play their first game on March 24 against Lucknow. at home in Jaipur.
Also Read: ‘Clown Franchise’: Fans Unhappy After SRH Confirm Pat Cummins As New Captain For IPL 2024
