Rajasthan Royals’ captain, Sanju Samson, has garnered an immense fan following thanks to his captivating batting prowess. Not only do fans adore him, but he has also won the endorsement of numerous former cricketers who recognize his exceptional talent. Among them is Graeme Swann, the former England cricketer turned IPL expert on JioCinema, who joins the chorus of admirers celebrating Samson’s skills.
Drawing an electrifying parallel, Swann likened Samson’s captaincy style to that of the iconic MS Dhoni during his early days. Swann highlighted Samson’s ability to remain composed and level-headed in high-pressure situations, commending his astute game-reading skills.
In an insightful interview with CricketNext, Swann provides an exclusive glimpse into his first-hand experience as a commentator for the IPL on JioCinema. He also reflected on the intensity of the tournament, highlighting the closely contested matches and shed light on the strategic utilization of the impact player rule by various teams and also revealed why he is awaiting a call from the Rajasthan Royals …
Excerpts:
This edition of IPL has been an incredibly close one. No team is out of the playoffs race yet. What are your thoughts on the tournament has panned out so far?
Well, to be honest, it’s starting to annoy me now that Rajasthan have lost five games in a row, because I thought that they were clear and they were safe, and now they’ve been dragged into it and I think it’s amazing.
It’s actually brilliant how well all the different teams are playing. Anyone could beat anyone on their day in this Tata IPL. And it’s not been like that since I’ve been covering it for five or six years, and there’s always been two teams who are way ahead of everyone else. I mean, Gujarat are the most successful team at the minute, and yet they could lose tomorrow to anyone, and they have been losing games as well. So I think it’s brilliant.
And the fact that Delhi, who have been bottomed the whole time, and I mean, they were dreadful at the start of this tournament, let’s face it, with all talent, they just weren’t performing. They could easily finish second or third if they win their remaining games and results go the way that’s crazy, and I think they actually will. I think Delhi are going to get in the playoffs. Just because I love a rags to riches tale, I love everyone loves a happy ending, everyone loves that.
And there’ll be a Bollywood movie made about Delhi’s season in a couple of years’ time, you mark my words.
After a promising start, the Rajasthan Royals have hit a rough patch, losing four out of their last five matches. Is the road becoming increasingly challenging for RR?
Honestly, I thought the other night they turned the corner because I thought as soon as Jos (Buttler) scores, runs again and gets back in form, Rajasthan always win. And he got that brilliant 95. And let’s face it, Rajasthan did win the game, only for the no ball, and try all over again. I mean, it was just … look spinners don’t bowl no balls. All right? So I’ve got no time for people who bowl no balls… That was heartbreaking. I think Sandeep Sharma has been brilliant in this IPL, but all the seamers everywhere around the world should get behind the line in the nets when you train, get a foot behind the line if you need to. It doesn’t make a great difference in speed when you let go of the ball, but it is a massive difference in winning or losing a game.
And when I played, And now I Coach Trent Rockets, I always watch the seamers. And them ‘what are you doing? Get behind it’. And there’s always an excuse. Oh, no, I don’t bowl them in games. Well, you do bowl them in games. If you want to come to the Signet Sport Academy, with Graham Swann There’s a strict no-ball policy. Your foot goes over that line, I chase you with a big stick.
Sticking to RR, you are big fan of Sanju Samson; and he is always in the spotlight – does not matter if he scores, if he doesn’t. Your thoughts on Samson the player, the captain?
What I love about Sanju is, like I say, over the five or six years I’ve been covering the IPL, he has become more and more the leader and the consistent player and senior player. That his talent sort of beckoned and destined to be, let’s face it, four or five years ago, everyone knew how good he was, but he easily go six or seven games doing nothing and then have a brilliant knock. I think now he’s almost Mr. Dependable for Rajasthan and he’s very calm, he’s very assured.
He’s like a young MS Dhoni I think when he’s captain. With his captaincy he doesn’t lose his calm, doesn’t lose his cool. He knows what’s going on, he reads the game well. And his interview actually, after that game the other day was brilliant because he didn’t blame anyone, but he just said, we can’t do that. We won that game and then it’s our fault that we didn’t win that game and that’s not acceptable. I love that. I thought he was excellent and his batting reminds me of myself, obviously (laughs). If only.
If I could go back and choose a player to bat like, it would be like Sanju Samson.
What is your assessment of the Impact Player rule and how teams have utilized it in the IPL? Do you think any team has mastered the art of utilizing Impact Players, or do you believe teams are still in the process of maximizing its potential?
I think some teams have got it and work it well. Other teams haven’t got a clue what they’re doing, but I think it’s because it’s new and I think as coaches and captains get more used to it they will use it better. I think personally, it’s a very good rule. I love it. I love the fact that you can have that extra bowler, extra batsman. I think it’s all about getting the highest quality. I know there’s some old fuddy duddies who think that it should just be the players on the paper who play the games, but nonsense, Scott, the impact player works, mate.
I’m a massive soccer fan, football fan, because I’m English, we all are. And the substitution rule is brilliant. It can change a game in the last ten minutes. And just because you’re dominating a game for the first three quarters, if you’ve not bothered to sort your bench out and your impact players who come on, then you lose the game. And I think cricket is desperate for that. And I’ve got no problem with older guys who can’t field very well anymore because they’re old and passed it, but they can still bat. I have no problem with them getting 100 and then sitting down, letting a youngster dive and be spectacular in the field.
I’m not saying that anyone does that at the minute, but it will happen that people just play a specialist batsman, specialist bowlers, and I’ve got no issue with that. I’m waiting for the Rajasthan Royals to give me a call, actually. I reckon I could bowl four overs and then sit in the dugout and talk to Sangakkara for the next 16. That’d be no problem.
Player contracts have become a prominent topic of discussion, with instances like Trent Boult giving up his central contract to prioritize franchise cricket and Josh Little, currently playing for Ireland, sitting out of the upcoming Lord’s Test. There have even been reports of lucrative multi-million-pound deals offered to England players to retire from international cricket. Do you believe this trend indicates a shift towards the football model of elite players, and what are your thoughts on this potential future?
It is the future, let’s face it one thing that grows and grows is franchise cricket, T20 cricket and one thing that is stagnated is especially 50 over bilateral cricket and test cricket unfortunately. In England it is enormously still test cricket is supported whole heartedly England team are, but it is just not the case around rest of the world. I think it is really shame myself because I think they can live alongside each other and I won’t not be surprised of some player decide to play just want to play franchise cricket and want to do that all year round and that how the future is going to be.
Well, it is making as much money as it is it, it is not going go away, so there no point being stuck in the past saying you should playing for your country and playing test cricket. If you don’t want to, then don’t. There’ll still be people out there who want to play test cricket, especially in England or Australia, because of the Ashes. But it’s not got the same appetite with younger players, it seems, as with my generation. This test cricket is still the greatest form of cricket, without a doubt for me. I adore it and I always will. But I love T 20 as well.
Harry Brook was one of the major signings this season and there is no doubting his talent – evident from the 100 he scored against KKR – but apart from that one innings, it has been a struggle for him. Do you think teams have done their homework well in countering him?
I think with Harry, it is all in his head. It’s a confidence thing. Every critic knows how hard it is when suddenly you get out of form. He got a brilliant hundred, which seemed to ease the pressure, but rather than ease the pressure it ramped up on him because then he was expected to keep doing it. That is, I’m not going to say a drawback, but that is one of the pitfalls of being an international superstar. As a young bloke, when he plays in the England team, he’s still a youngster within a lot of experienced players and still fairly free to go out. And if it doesn’t happen for him, someone else will pick up the reins. In the IPL, the overseas players are massive. They’re the match winners. They’ve got all the money spent on them. So if they’re not picking up the … Like scoring 100 or are averaging 60 or whatever, doing what Faf du Plessis is doing, for instance, very quickly the team falls by the wayside. So it’s hard. It’s taking the jump from being a junior to a senior player without doing the middle bit that most people do as they grow up.
So Harry’s brilliant and he will be confident as soon as he comes back. I’ve seen him for 12, 18 months in an England shirt doing things that I haven’t seen any batsman from England even dare to think of doing. And trust me, the hundred you saw is a glimpse of how good he is. I hope he gets back in the team before the end of this IPL, and I think he should. And I hope he finds some form because if Harry’s going well, then Sunrisers will win.
How has been your experience calling the matches on JioCinema and a bit of insight how has been JioCinema’s coverage The Insiders and hangout feeds and how that’s been different from the regular feeds that call the game?
Yeah, well, it’s amazing, I mean, being here at the FAMOUS studios, first and foremost, the whole breadth of how many channels, how many languages we’re covering. Obviously, it’s a matter of time before I’m covering the Hindi and Bhojpuri and whatever, but for now, just being in The Insiders, it’s great. I think it’s a very fresh take on how to commentate Cricket. It’s like sitting in the change room with former players and not having to go at anyone else. But there’s a formality to other commentary that I’ve done before and it’s not as free. I don’t think you get the same insights that you get with The Insiders and it’s a joy to sort of be the chairman. I’m going to call myself the chairman of the Insiders just to annoy Scott Styris. But I think just to be there and sitting next to people like Anil Kumble and Zaheer Khan, obviously, and Chris Gayle and AB de Villiers and Graham Smith and getting the insider knowledge of what they would think in this particular instance, generically what a coach would think. What do you think? What does this player specifically think and is going on at this precise moment in time
You can’t get that knowledge just from commentating and just from being an expert in the game, but you can get this knowledge and we can draw it out of these guys. So I’m absolutely loving that aspect of it. And I also get to have a lot of fun as well because if you’re sat there watching cricket with your friends, you enjoy it, you have a lot of fun. And I think that’s where The Insiders is really top notch because we get to properly enjoy ourselves and sometimes talk. It doesn’t seem like we’re concentrating on the game, but we really are. And when the action happens, bang, we’re on it. But you might find out a few more things that you never knew you wanted to know until we tell you.