Samson underlined the need to move on quickly and identify the strengths and weaknesses of the squad’s new players. This time their bowling line-up includes Jofra Archer (set to turn out for Royals for the first time since 2020-21) and Maheesh Theekshana, alongside host of Indian talents like Akash Madhwal, Tushar Deshpande and Kumar Kartikeya.
“We have to let go of the past, forget what happened, forget the quality of players we had,” Samson said. “They’re different players, different line-ups. We’ve got to go with a fresh pair of eyes and thinking. You can’t say ‘last year we had them, did this or did that’.
“I’m a type of captain who trusts the bowlers. They need to tell me their strength and what they want to bowl. It’s a mixture of my experience and their thinking coming together and them finding the right way to go ahead. After playing a few games, we will understand their strengths and weaknesses.”
Samson believes conditions will be unforgiving for the bowlers even though some steps – like allowing one ball change on demand after 10 overs of the chase in evening games, to help counter dew – have been taken to help the bowlers.
“In the powerplay, bowlers have been targeted like anything, that’s where challenge is,” Samson said. “Bowlers have been coming in with new tricks – change of pace, slower balls, slower bouncers. Now IPL has introduced a rule of players being allowed to apply saliva, that can help bowlers, or the new ball rule because of dew. We’re trying to balance it out, but it still looks like [it will be] a heavy scoring season.”
Vaibhav Suryavanshi a special talent, says Samson
“He looks something special,” Samson said. “That’s what our team recognised him when he came to the trials. Our scouts following him in the U-19 matches he was playing, [were impressed with] the amount of shots he was playing. It shows he’s really made for the best level.
“To be honest, he’s very lucky, for a 13-year-old or any youngster, to come here to Rajasthan Royals and be the right hand of Rahul Dravid [head coach] and all the mentors here. They’re really good at taking care of young Indian talent who have come here.
“It’ a great responsibility not only for him, but for us to take care of him and guide him, not just these two months but for the 10 months he’s away from IPL. He’s in great hands, there’s something special for Indian cricket in the coming years from him.”
