The Rajasthan Royals faced a close defeat in their Wednesday night game against Lucknow Super Giants. Chasing a relatively lowly 155-run target on a slow surface at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, the Royals were restricted to 144/6; Avesh Khan bowled a brilliant final over with RR needing 19 more runs to win, as he picked two wickets off back-to-back deliveries, eventually conceding only 8. While Sanju Samson's side still remains at the top of the table, the LSG have now drawn level on points with RR with a win in Jaipur.
This was the Royals' first match at the stadium and while Samson stated that he had expected pitch to behave rather slowly at the SMS Stadium, the batters couldn't execute their plans to perfection. RR had made a strong start to the run-chase with the opening duo of Yashasvi Jaiswal (44) and Jos Buttler (40) adding 87 runs; however, the side lost three quick wickets following the departure of Jaiswal as Samson (2), Buttler, and Shimron Hetmyer (2) were dismissed in quick succession.
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Even as Samson was run out in the game, the side's former batting coach and Indian domestic legend Amol Muzumdar has made a scathing criticism of the RR skipper, as well as the side's batting lineup. Muzumdar stated that the Royals lack a batter who can “adapt” to certain game situations, which was one of the primary reasons behind their loss on Wednesday night.
{{/usCountry}}Even as Samson was run out in the game, the side's former batting coach and Indian domestic legend Amol Muzumdar has made a scathing criticism of the RR skipper, as well as the side's batting lineup. Muzumdar stated that the Royals lack a batter who can “adapt” to certain game situations, which was one of the primary reasons behind their loss on Wednesday night.
{{/usCountry}}“There's something called muscle memory. Somebody like Sanju Samson is a classic case of see-the-ball, hit-the-ball. He's not worried about consequences. (He's) being as brave as possible, daring to score those boundaries and sixes. These are modern-day cricketers, Sanju, Yashasvi Jaiswal, even Devdutt Padikkal to an extent. They don't have the kind of player who could adapt and play the different role on this kind of surface, where Tom (Moody) rightly said that you need to hit those pockets," Muzumdar said on ESPNCricinfo.
“At Sawai Mansingh Stadium, you will have those bigger gaps because of the square boundaries being big, you will have those pockets. You will have the gaps to nuddle around,” the former Indian player further said.
The Royals will now travel down south to Bengaluru, where they take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore on April 23.