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Cricket PlayersIPL 2023: For RR, Sanju Samson leads the way
An impressive facet of Samson's journey with RR is that captaincy has not bogged him down
Rashid Khan has developed an intimidating reputation. Even the best power-hitters feel it's wiser to play out the deadly leg-spinner rather than risk attacking him. When you need 112 runs from 48 balls and Rashid still has two overs to bowl, it has often been seen that there is only one winner – Rashid's team.
On Sunday evening at Motera’s Narendra Modi Stadium ground, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson uprooted that logic in sensational style, stunning the ace bowler with a hat-trick of sixes in the 13th over of the innings. The counter-attack set up the dramatic chase that saw RR successfully chase down the Gujarat Titans’ total of 177/7 from a rather hopeless position of 66/4 after 12 overs.
While giving a pep talk to his team after the game, coach Kumar Sangakkara singled out Samson's attack on Rashid as the gamechanger: “Skipper, you not just got us through the powerplay, but that Rashid Khan over, and then how you kicked on from there, that was the game changer. Their best bowler, some say the best T20 spinner in the world, was completely caught off guard. It just goes to show when you are in the game, anything is possible, whether it is Rashid Khan, Shane Warne or (Muttiah) Muralitharan. It doesn't matter when we are in the game. We play the ball, not the man. Brilliantly done!”
Samson was not a name many associated with leadership potential when RR chose to make him the captain in 2021 but it has proved to be a great move. After taking them to the final of the tournament last season, the Kerala player continues to impress as captain leading the team to the top of the table after their win over GT.
According to ESPNcricinfo’s win probability calculation, after the 12th over, RR had a 2.01% chance of winning the game. From nowhere near the asking rate, Samson’s 60 off just 32 balls gave RR an outside chance.
It was a dazzling knock from the touch artiste with six maximums and three boundaries, as he anchored the Royals' innings in a splendid manner and set up the platform for finisher Shimron Hetmyer.
Starting with a four to backward point, some of the strokes he played were breathtaking for his silken touch. There was an off drive off Pandya, a superb flick-pull off Alzarri Joseph.
Out of his six sixes, he hit four against Rashid. Before Sunday's knock, Samson’s overall strike-rate against the ace leggie was less than 100 with just one six. Now he is joint-second for most sixes against Rashid, behind Chris Gayle, who has hit seven.
“With the start, we had while batting, it was very important to know how good a wicket this was. With the quality of bowling they had in the Powerplay, we had to respect them. But we knew we could play some shots later on," said Samson.
The victory will also taste sweeter for RR because of the extra focus on their contest with GT. On current form, these are the two best sides in the tournament and RR had a score to settle having been routed in the final at the same venue.
Samson had lost the battle of captains, falling to his opposite number Hardik Pandya for just 14. The GT skipper was the player of the final for his all-round show (3/17 and 34 runs). Even though Pandya had a below-par start to this season, he again reserved his best for RR with a 19-ball 28 and a spell of 4-0-24-1, but Samson was in inspired form to steal Pandya's thunder this time.
“When you play some quality opponents on a quality wicket in a quality stadium like this, you expect a great match. I'm very happy to be on the winning side,” said Samson, who completed 3000 runs in Royals colours during the game.
Another impressive facet of Samson's journey with RR is that captaincy has not bogged him down. Instead, his batting has flourished. His first season as captain, in 2021, remains his best IPL season with 484 runs at an average of 40.33. He was consistent in 2022 as well helping his side to reach the final with 458 runs.
The next step in his career is to translate this success internationally. He has been out of the India team since injuring himself while taking a catch in the first T20I against Sri Lanka in January. A good run in this IPL should help him get back his place.
