Guwahati, March 29 Riyan Parag's maturity and vision for the team made him the perfect candidate for captaincy, ahead of five others, including veteran Ravindra Jadeja, Rajasthan Royals head coach and Director of Cricket, Kumar Sangakkara said ahead of the team's opening game against Chennai Super Kings here on Monday.
RR has named Assam-born Parag as the captain for this IPL season, ahead of several senior players, which has raised eyebrows, especially after the franchise had only won two of the eight games that he had captained last year. Sangakkara explained the reason behind the decision.
"There were five candidates, including Sandeep Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja. We had very strict parameters on how we were going to choose, what the process would be, so we had a lot of conversations with all the candidates and we realized that all of them were capable of captaining our team. Riyan stood out as the top candidate because, in all his conversations, he seemed to have matured a lot," Sangakkara said.
"He was very reflective in answering all the questions, and the questions were very challenging and targeted. Some of those questions were quite uncomfortable for everyone. Riyan, with his maturity and vision for the team, wanted not just to captain, but to lead the team, which made him the leading candidate.
"We went into the decision with an open mind and gave due respect to all the players, giving everyone an equal chance and choosing the best candidate."
Sangakkara said that Riyan will get a lot of support from the team's senior players.
"Captaincy and leadership are two different things. Both are never easy. We looked at maturity, the ability to reflect on oneself, not just others. We looked at the ability to think critically, the authenticity of their answers, and their ability to influence others, not just younger players, but also senior players." Sangakkara believes that Riyan will make mistakes and learn from them.
"No captain or leader is perfect. I know how many mistakes I have made. But that's how you learn, and Riyan will have a lot of support – Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Sandeep Sharma, Shimron Hetmyer, Jofra Archer, Dasun Shanaka. So he has a lot of people he can lean on in difficult times."
RR traded their former captain Sanju Samson for Ravindra Jadeja and Sam Curran with CSK, and Sangakkara seemed happy with the decision.
"The best trade is where both sides are happy, but slightly unhappy, and that's a great trade. To be honest, we are extremely sad to see Sanju go; he has been an incredible player for us, a leader and captain, but we knew it was inevitable. I think we have got two very good players, one legend in Jaddu and Sam, which balances out our squad," he said.
"The trade has helped us to balance out our squad, but unfortunately, Sam had to pull out because of an injury."