IPL 2022: "Hope he keeps all coins for me after toss" - Sanju Samson "very happy" for 'new' Rajasthan Royals captain Yuzvendra Chahal
Sanju Samson took the hilarious joke about Yuzvendra Chahal being the 'new' Rajasthan Royals captain to the next level on Thursday. Answering a fan's question, the skipper light-heartedly said he's "very happy" for Chahal and hoped that the leg-spinner would bring him the coins after tosses in the IPL 2022 season.
Samson's remarks came hours after Chahal took over Rajasthan Royals' Twitter account and put up a series of rib-tickling posts. These included messages to teammates Ravichandran Ashwin and Jos Buttler, a proposal to open the innings himself, and even a fake announcement of a captaincy change.
Meet RR new captain @yuzi_chahal 🎉 🎉 https://t.co/ygpXQnK9Cv
Samson had succinctly congratulated Chahal in the comments section of the post and even got a reply of "jealous jealous" from the senior Indian cricketer through RR's account.
@rajasthanroyals @yuzi_chahal Congrats Yuzi
Now, on Thursday, Samson hosted a quarantine Q&A session on his Instagram stories, and one fan asked him about his thoughts on Chahal supposedly being the new RR captain.
Playing along sportingly, the 27-year-old replied:
"Very happy for him. Hope he keeps all the coins for me after the toss."
You can see the story here.
In IPL 2021, in his maiden year as the Rajasthan Royals captain, Samson pocketed a few toss coins before matches. When one of the tournament presenters asked him about the reason for the obsession, he said he found the coins "really nice".
Can Sanju Samson take Rajasthan Royals to glory in his second season as captain?
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Quarantine going strong 💪🏽😎✅ https://t.co/1UwGvJILK2
Although they finished seventh in IPL 2021, the Royals showed a lot of good signs under Samson's leadership. Despite being worst-affected by injuries and bio-bubble-related pull-outs, the inaugural champions remained competitive and even punched above their weight in some games.
With the additions of Chahal, Ashwin, Trent Boult, Devdutt Padikkal and Prasidh Krishna, among others, the team is in a much better position. The backroom staff has also improved with Lasith Malinga's entry and Paddy Upton's return.
Most members, including the captain, are in form and it's just a matter of piecing it all together on the field. It would be fair to say that this season is the Royals' best chance to break the age-old deadlock and compete for a place in the final.