When it was announced that legendary Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangkara will be a part Indian Premier League as Director of Cricket for Rajasthan Royals, fans’ excitement level shifted to another level. The left handed batsman & wicket keeper is all set to work with skipper Sanju Samson, who replaced Steve Smith this season.
Before the IPL could start, Sangkara took on social media to answer some of the questions of the fans. In a video shared on the Royals’ YouTube channel, the former Lankan skipper can be seen sharing his opinions on the queries from fans.
However, What took Sngkara’s attention was a question about legendary Argentine footballer Lionel Messi. The fan asked and wrote,
“Can we sign Messi in next year’s mega auction please?” to which Sangakkara replied with a pinch of humor “Are you talking about Lionel Messi? Well, wonderful to have a player like him. I’m sure with his talent, he can definitely play some cricket as well,”
Sangakkara was quoted as saying in the video.
One of the fans even asked him
“Which current batsman has the most perfect Sanga drive (cover drive)?”
Sangakkara was confused in the beginning but named Ben Stokes and Samson from the Royals.
“There’s quite a few, in our team itself, there’s quite a few. Ben Stokes is one, Sanju Samson can also play the drive. Virat Kohli, of course, has a beautiful balance and great transfer into his cover drive & hopefully, I want to see Shivam Dube play them as well. It’s one of my favourite shots. And there are so many batters in the world who play it much better than I ever did,”
he stated.
Rajasthan Royals suffered their worst campaign last season, finishing last in the team standings with six wins from 14 games. Following their dismal performance, the franchise released their skipper Steve Smith with young Sanju Samson taking over the captaincy role. RR will kick-start their IPL 2021 campaign against KL Rahul’s Punjab Kings on April 12 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.