Kumar Sangakkara, the Rajasthan Royals’ Director of Cricket has praised the newly appointed captain Sanju Samson and all-rounder Rahul Tewatia, citing that both of them have the capability of turn the table single-handedly as the duo has great talent as well. However, Rajasthan Royals will play their first game of the Indian Premier League 2021 against Punjab Kings on Monday at the Wankhede Stadium.

Meanwhile, earlier the mini-auction in Chennai, the Royals released their captain Steve Smith and appointed Samson as the new captain of their side with Kumar Sangakkara has been roped in as Director of Cricket.

“The pressure is always there, you can try and forget about it. But the reality is I think Sanju and all the players will always tell you that the expectation and pressure are always there. There are various coping mechanisms and little techniques you used to deal with them to let you focus at the moment. It is really important to have that grand ambition of playing regular international cricket,” Sangakkara said during a virtual press conference on Sunday.

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“Both Sanju and Rahul are capable of not just being regulars, but great and outstanding performers on the international stage. They have an amazing ability, great cricketing sense, and both of them over the years have really progressed. Sanju has been a young batting superstar in the Indian scene for a long time, but the real key is to understand that there is a process to achieve that ambition and to take it to match by match. Each innings you play in the IPL, the focus should be on that. It is important that both Samson and Rahul have the trust of the team,” he further added.

He also said that there are plenty of match-winners, not just limited to England players. With Sanju Samson, Rahul Tewatia, and the fast bowlers, they will try to have variation in the team so that different players can do something special on their day and the veteran has also said that everyone is looking forward to starting their campaign. However, they wouldn’t get the service of their key pacer Jofra Archer for the initial part of the tournament due to an injury because of that he underwent surgery and is currently going through rehab as well.