IPL 2021 | Thought it’d be extremely tough for us to win from 42/5, reveals Sanju Samson

04/16/2021

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Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson revealed that he was very close to losing all hopes and thought that it would be ‘very tough’ for RR to win the game from 42/5. Samson further lavished praise on his side’s fast bowlers and attested that their strength lies in taking pace off the ball.

IPL 2020 saw Rajasthan snatch defeat from the jaws of victory many a time, but there was a change in script at the Wankhede on Thursday as the Sanju Samson-led side pulled off a remarkable heist to get off the mark in the season. Chasing 148, Rajasthan were reduced to 42/5, but a heroic effort from David Miller coupled with an all-time-great cameo from Chirs Morris took the side over the line.

Speaking post the victory, RR skipper Samson admitted that he did not really think that his side would end up winning the contest. Samson said that, at 42/5, he thought that it would be ‘very tough’ for RR to end up on the winning side.

“To be very honest, I thought that it was tough from 40 for 5. We had Miller and Morris, but I thought it was tough. It's about reading the conditions. It was a little sticky at the start,” Samson said at the post match presentation.

It could be argued that RR won the game with the ball as after leaking 221 runs in their first game of the season, the Royals bowlers bounced back in style to restrict Delhi to 147. In particular, it was Jaydev Unadkat who inflicted all damage, as the left-armer finished with remarkable figures of 3/15. Samson attested that the RR bowlers stuck to their strength of taking pace off the ball, and also lavished praise on young Chetan Sakariya.

“Hard lengths and mixing up with the variations was the key. That's also our strength - three left-armers. They are slightly different from the other so we can use it in a different way. We had a chat with him, he was very confident and very clear (Sakariya).”

Morris playing a blinder of an innings today made many question if Samson had erred in the Punjab game by turning down the single, but the RR skipper asserted with authority that even if he has 100 chances, he would turn down the single every single time.

“Always sit back and review my game. If I play that match again 100 times I would not take the single (on denying strike to Morris last time).”