Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise Rajasthan Royals roped in Indian spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for an amount of Rs 5 Crore and on the other hand, another Indian spinner Yuzvendra Chahal was signed for Rs 6.50 Crore at the mega auction for IPL 2022. Now, Rajasthan Royals Director of Cricket and Head Coach Kumar Sangakkara has said that they “have got the two best spinners in the IPL in terms of off-spin and leg-spin in Chahal and Ashwin.”
Sangakkara speaks
“We’ve got the two best spinners in the IPL in terms of off-spin and leg-spin in Chahal and Ashwin. We have Boult, Prasidh, Saini, Coulter-Nile, McCoy, which makes up for a very exciting pace unit supported by of course the retentions of Yashasvi, Samson and Buttler. We have secured depth in every department, with Neesham, Mitchell and van der Dussen being exciting cricketers,” said Sangakkara during an interaction in Red Bull Cricket Room.
While talking about his side’s preparations for the upcoming edition of IPL, Sangakkara said that the team did an “amazing job to put this exciting and strong squad together.”
“We know we had quite a bit of work to do in the off-season with regards to our team. I think we managed to identify the key areas which needed our attention and having had a proper process when it comes to selecting players at the auction, we managed to kind of hit the markers that we set for ourselves. I think the franchise has done an amazing job to put this exciting and strong squad together.
“We’ve got some really exciting and young cricketers from India as well. The main thing is that we have a very competent side. We tried to get the core right and get the right players for the roles. But now, the main thing irrespective of what the squad is, is actual match performance on the field, and how we can give everyone the freedom to go out there and perform,” explained the former Sri Lankan wicketkeeper-batsman.
Malinga's presence
Sangakkara also talked about Rajasthan Royals bowling coach Lasith Malinga and according to the 44-year-old former wicketkeeper, “Lasith comes with a pedigree.”
“Lasith comes with a pedigree, being one of the greatest T20 bowlers, and having mentored a lot of the Indian young bowlers as well. While, everyone’s aware of the importance of mental conditioning and also having that cohesion between the unit, especially in the IPL and in a COVID situation. So, these were pretty obvious decisions for us to make and we are delighted to have them and hope to see their work reflect into performances on the field,” Sangakkara further concluded.
