'Next guy after Jasprit Bumrah': Sanju Samson's towering praise for RR bowler after getting knocked out of IPL 2024
After RR's defeat, Sanju Samson hailed a teammate and compared him to MI pacer Jasprit Bumrah.
Rajasthan Royals crashed to a disappointing 36-run defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2024, in Chennai. Chasing 176, RR collapsed at 139/7 in 20 overs, despite a half-century from Dhruv Jurel (56*). Meanwhile, Shahbaz Ahmed got three wickets for SRH, Abhishek Sharma bagged two dismissals.
Initially, a half-century from Heinrich Klaasen (50) saw SRH post 175/9 in 20 overs. For RR's bowling department, Avesh Khan and Trent Boult bagged three-wicket hauls respectively.
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Speaking after the match, RR captain Sanju Samson hailed pacer Sandeep Sharma's impact, and compared the veteran to Jasprit Bumrah. " I am really happy for him. By not being picked in the auctions and coming back as a replacement. the way he bowled, he has definitely delivered. If we look at the numbers, Sandeep Sharma in the last two years, he will be the next guy after Bumrah. He has done a great job," he said.
In the ongoing season, Sandeep has taken 13 wickets in 11 matches, at an economy of 8.18. He has been pivotal for RR in tough situations this season. In many moments, Samson has preferred Sandeep over the likes of Trent Boult or Avesh. Sandeep last played for India in 2015, and his international career has been cut short by continuous injuries.
When asked about SRH facing KKR in the final, Samson said, "The condition suits both of them, so let's see how they come back again in the powerplay. SRH batsmen are very interesting, they can definitely take the game away. KKR also will be confident, they look very exciting. It'll be a great game, that's what IPL has been giving us for the last 16 years."
Speaking on his side's defeat, the wicketkeeper-batter said, "It was a big game. I am really proud of the way we bowled in the first innings. We were found short of options in the middle overs against their spin, that's where we lost the game. It's very hard to guess actually when we are expecting some dew or when we are not. The wicket started behaving differently in the second innings, the ball started turning a bit, they used that advantage really well. They bowled their spin in the middle overs against our right-handed batsmen, that's where they were one-up against us. Against their left-arm spin, when the ball was stopping, we could have tried a bit more reverse-sweep or maybe use of the crease a bit more. They also bowled really well."
