Last Updated on 4 months by Charbel Coorey

Cricket News: “I see huge things in the future of Sanju Samson” | Jimmy Neesham on the Royals, Sanju Samson & Jos Buttler

New Zealand and Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Jimmy Neesham has heaped praise on Royals captain Sanju Samson during the ongoing IPL 2022 tournament. In an exclusive interview with CricBlog, Neesham said the Royals are well placed to do well this season thanks to both Samson the batsman and captain.

The Royals began their campaign with a clinical victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad on March 29, with the batting lineup playing a crucial role. However, the Royals are well known for making good starts to IPL campaigns, and Neesham says the team is focused on the job at hand with Samson’s leadership central to that.

“When you’ve got a batting lineup with guys like Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag seems an incredibly talented batsman as well there at number six, we’re confident,” Neesham said to CricBlog.

“Obviously one from one is the start you’re looking for, but it’s a really long tournament – 14 games and about 8 weeks – so a lot can go wrong in that period of time. For us, it’s about trying to stay as level as possible. We’ve got the best possible example in Sanju Samson as a captain as far as staying level-headed and getting the job done.”

Best thing about IPL is playing & training with guys like Samson, Buttler – Neesham

The all-rounder provided some insights into what he sees from his Royals teammates at training. According to Neesham, the sheer level of skill and fact that high-quality cricketers miss the playing XI is testament to the IPL’s quality.

“The quality of cricket is better than anywhere else in the world”, said Neesham. “You have four overseas players, and it’s the best players in the world [in the tournament].

“Looking at our Rajasthan Royals, it’s pretty ridiculous. Even training in the nets, and seeing the talent of guys that aren’t even in the playing XI as far as guys like Navdeep Saini and Kuldeep Sen. Guys that bowl serious pace and struggling to even make the playing XI is testament to how high-quality the tournament is.

“It’s one of the circled events on the world calendar.”

Neesham then spoke about how training and playing with players like Samson and England superstar Jos Buttler is a terrific experience. Having those types of players helps elevate the others in the group, and Neesham believes that will hold the Royals in good stead for the season.

“One of the best things about the IPL is being able to live day-to-day with these guys that are so high-quality and watch how they train. Sanju is definitely one of those players, Jos Buttler is another I was excited to join when I looked at the team,” said the all-rounder.

“The thing that strikes me about Sanju is that you can sort of see the quality of batsman when you play against them in games, and you get a feel for how they strike the ball. But, you don’t really understand until you can watch them train day after day and hitting balls. You really get a sense of how high-quality they are.

“Sanju played a couple of shots at training a couple of days ago and I looked across at Daryl Mitchell [New Zealand teammate] and we just sort of looked at each other and went ‘wow’, that’s a hell of a cricketer,” Neesham continued.

“Leadership works for Samson”

In addition to Samson’s batting ability, Neesham also spoke highly of Samson the captain. He believes he is a natural leader and that brings out the best in him in all aspects of his game.

“Leadership works for him really well,” said Neesham. “He likes captaining the team, and I see huge things for him in his future; not just IPL wise but international cricket as well. He is an incredibly high-quality cricketer.”

The Royals will play their second match against Mumbai Indians on Saturday before locking horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore on Tuesday.

You can catch CricBlog’s full interview with Jimmy Neesham here or watch below.