IPL 2022: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that he doesn’t see anything special in the player as far as captaincy is concerned.
With Virat Kohli deciding to step down as captain of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) after the end of last season, there was a lot of chatter regarding the franchise’s next captain. However, ahead of the ongoing season of the Indian Premier League (IPL), RCB bought former South Africa skipper and Chennai Super Kings’ batting mainstay Faf du Plessis at the mega auction. The franchise also named him the captain of the team for the ongoing season. RCB have played two games so far, winning one and losing one.
Du Plessis, especially, has received a lot of praise from fans and fraternity for his batting and captaincy so far this season.
However, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar has said that he doesn’t see anything special in du Plessis as far as captaincy is concerned.
“Virat has quit leadership and Du Plessis has taken over, so he will lead in his own way. I am not a huge fan of Faf du Plessis because I don’t see anything (special) in his captaincy,” Akhtar said during an interaction with Sportskeeda.
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Akhtar further said that du Plessis doesn’t look sharp as a captain on the outfield, adding that the player has a point to prove.
“Having said that, Faf has a point to prove. At times, he doesn’t look that sharp during his leadership. He has been given the responsibility of leading a huge franchise, so let’s see if he is able to revive their fortunes,” he added.
RCB narrowly lost out to Punjab Kings in their first match, but came back strongly to see off the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in their second game.
IPL 2022: Shoaib Akhtar Names Player Who Should Have Played More Games For India
Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that the player has been unlucky and should have played more matches for India.
After finishing second from bottom in the points table last season, Rajasthan Royals (RR) have found new life this season. Skipper Sanju Samson in particular has stepped up massively in the two games so far this season. After playing a 55-run knock in the first game against SunRisers Hyderabad, Samson chipped in with another 30-run cameo against the Mumbai Indians in the second match. Ahead of their game against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Tuesday, former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that Samson has been unlucky and should have played more matches for India.
“Sanju Samson should have played more matches for India. I think he is one of the finest players. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to seal his place in the Indian team. But he is a great talent,” Shoaib Akhtar said during an interaction with Sportskeeda.
Samson, however, could not fire against RCB, making just eight runs off as many deliveries before being dismissed by Wanindu Hasaranga.
RCB managed to beat RR by four wickets, with Shahbaz Ahmed (45 off 26) and Dinesh Karthik (44* off 23) helping them chase down the 170-run target.
So far, Samson has played one ODI and 13 T20Is for Team India. He was part of the team for the recently-concluded T20I series against Sri Lanka. He registered scores of 39 and 18 in the two games he got to bat in.
RR have won two matches this season and are currently sitting at the summit of the IPL 2022 points table.
RR Squad:
Sanju Samson(C), Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, R Ashwin, Trent Boult, Shimron Hetmyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Riyan Parag, KC Cariappa, Navdeep Saini, Obed McCoy, Arunay Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Karun Nair, Dhruv Jurel, Tejas Baroka, Kuldeep Yadav, Shubham Garhwal, James Neesham, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rassie van der Dussen, Daryl Mitchell