Ravichandran Ashwin will join the Rajasthan Royals (RR) camp after the England Test series. Sanju Samson will lead RR at the IPL 2024.
Veteran Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin is set to cap off a record-fest series in the ongoing edition of the ICC World Test Championship (WTC). The spin wizard joined the elite 500 club in the 3rd Test against Ben Stokes’ men at Rajkot. With Rohit Sharma’s Team India set to lock horns with England for the fifth and final Test in Dharamsala, spinner Ashwin is eyeing another historic achievement in the longest and oldest format of the game.
Ashwin will link up with RR skipper Samson for IPL 2024 after the England series(AP-ANI)
Senior all-rounder Ashwin will record his 100th Test appearance for the Asian giants at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium. Following the conclusion of the Test series between India and England, Ashwin will link up with power-hitter Sanju Samson at the Rajasthan Royals (RR) camp for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Former IPL champions Rajasthan Royals finished fifth in the 10-team tournament last season.
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Samson’s RR side will kickstart their campaign against KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on March 22. Speaking to Star Sports in the lead-up to the new IPL season, Ashwin opened up about playing under Samson’s leadership. Wicketkeeper-batter Samson was named captain of the 2008 winners ahead of the 2021 season.
‘Sanju is extremely funny’
“Sanju is extremely funny off the field. I am not sure a lot of people understand that or probably know that. It’s a problem of perfection a lot of people battle how you see someone on the ground and how they are off it, it’s completely different. That’s how Sanju is, he speaks Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil and we connect a lot. I am a Tamil cinema buff and we connect there and he gets humor. A lot of people who speak Tamil and are not natively from Chennai or somewhere inside the state, don’t get the internal humour because a lot of humour comes from the movies,” Ashwin said.
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Samson was first signed by the Royals back in 2013. A batting mainstay for the Rasjasthan-based franchise, Samson guided RR to the final of the IPL in 2022. The former Delhi Capitals (DC) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star has amassed 3888 runs in 152 games at the IPL. Samson’s teammate Ashwin was roped in by the Royals for INR 5 crore at the IPL mega auction in 2022. Ashwin has also played for Chennai Super Kings, Rising Pune Supergiant, Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in the celebrated tournament.
‘As a young captain, I find Sanju…’
“On the field, I try and give him inputs as I see how the game is panning out. However, that relationship off the field doesn’t come on the field. It’s generally that younger brother, elder brother sort of a relationship off it. On the field, we are able to switch off. I do what he wants and give my inputs and then he takes what he wants and gets on with it. I find Sanju as a young captain, he is able to differentiate, and demarcate both which is phenomenal,” Ashwin added.
