From watching Rajasthan Royals (RR) win the IPL 2008 on TV to leading the same team in the final of the 2022 season, Sanju Samson has come a long way. On Friday, his team defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 7 wickets in the Qualifier 2 in Ahmedabad. At the same time, he also became the second cricketer after legendary Shane Warner who would lead the Royals in an IPL final.
However, a couple of days back, the mood in the RR dressing room wasn’t the same. They had lost to the Gujarat Titans (GT) and needed to fight again for the ticket to the finale. But, the unit was determined to bounce back and they did it in style.
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Speaking about the same at the post-match show, Sanju said the loss against GT wasn’t easy to digest but the win against RCB was a result of great teamwork.
“It was tough (after a loss in the last game), but we are used to bouncing back in the tournament. In IPL it’s very normal that you go ups and downs throughout the tournament. We lost a few games, we knew how to come back and we did really well,” said Sanju at the post-match show.
“We closed the innings really well, having DK and Maxi at the end we knew what they could do but having belief and composure in our skills is what got us through. It (winning the toss) made it easier to win this game, toss plays a huge role and I think the wicket played completely different in the first and second innings.
Jos Buttler smashed a record-equalling fourth hundred in an IPL season, scoring an unbeaten 106 off 60 balls. His ravishing knock helped the Royals move a step closer to their 2nd IPL title.
Sanju reserved huge praise for his opener and said, “This is his (Obed McCoy) first IPL, he is very calm and composed and backs his strengths and we really trust him to do well. Very grateful to have someone like Jos, and the way he is batting, touch-wood, we have one more game to go,” he added.
Sanju recalled when RR won the title in the inaugural season. He said he was playing Under-16 games in Kerala back in 2008 and watched the first-ever IPL final with his friends.
“I was very young and it was the first IPL season and I remember playing an under-16 game somewhere in Kerala and I remember watching the last game with my friends and remember that last run where Shane Warne and Sohail Tanvir hit the run and they were running, it was a very vague memory which I have,” he added.
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