CSK vs RR: "Would like to tell my teammates..." - Sanju Samson's blunt message to RR after defeat to CSK

Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals (RR) traveled to Chennai to take on the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the 61st match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) on Sunday, May 12 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

RR won the toss and chose to bat first in the match. After struggling throughout the innings, the visitors managed to reach the score of 141/5 in their 20 overs. Youngsters Riyan Parag (47) and Dhruv Jurel (28) were the top performers for the side as they played with a good strike rate while Yashasvi Jaiswal (24), Jos Buttler (21) and Sanju Samson (15) looked scratchy in the middle but made decent contributions.

Chasing the target, Rachin Ravindra and Ruturaj Gaikwad played quite well and took CSK to a good start. After that, Daryl Mitchell (22) and Shivam Dube (18) tried to play aggressively but were dismissed for low scores. Things got worse for CSK when Ravindra Jadeja was declared out for obstructing the field and CSK were reduced to 121/5. However, after that, Ruturaj Gaikwad held the nerves and along with Sameer Rizvi steered the team to a 5-wicket win.

Speaking after the match, Sanju Samson said that the wicket was two-paced and they were 20-25 short of the par score. Sanju Samson stated:

"I think after the powerplay the message was slow and two-paced. Hence after the powerplay, the score we were expecting was 170, we were short 20-25 runs."

Sanju Samson lauded Simarjeet Singh for his 3-wicket haul and spoke about their decision to bat first. Sanju Samson elaborated:

"Paaji (Simarjeet) bowled really well for CSK. We are not really sure what to expect from away games. We thought batting first was the better option. They had a better idea of what to chase being used to playing here, we thought it would have been slower in the second innings, but the wicket was instead better. When you play at night chasing is a no-brainer due to the dew. The pitch gets heated up during summers so I expected the wicket to slow down in the second innings."

Sanju Samson further said that they do think about the qualification but firstly they need to focus on the controllables. He also bluntly told his teammates to focus on things that are in their hands. He asserted:

"It's normal to keep on thinking about qualification, need to focus on what is under our control. I would like to tell my teammates need to focus on things that are in our hands. Need to focus on the process and hope to win the next game."

Rajasthan Royals Had Defeated Chennai Super Kings Twice In IPL 2023

In the Indian Premier League 2023, Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings faced off each other twice on April 12 and 27 and in both matches, the Royals emerged victorious.

On April 12 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai, RR posted a total of 175/8 on the board, riding on good performances from Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Ashwin and Shimron Hetmyer. Defending the total, they stopped CSK to 172/6 and won by 3 runs as Ravichandran Ashwin, Yuzvendra Chahal, Adam Zampa and Sandeep Sharma did a good job with the ball. Ashwin won the Player of the Match award for his contributions of 30 (22) & 2/25.

Next, it was Rajasthan Royals' turn to host Chennai Super Kings on April 27 and this time, they showed even more dominance at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur. Batting first, they posted a massive total of 202/5 on the board as Yashasvi Jaiswal (77) played a stunning knock and was well supported by Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel. Chasing the target, CSK batters failed to perform well and were reduced to 170/6 with Adam Zampa, Ravichandran Ashwin and Kuldip Yadav shining for RR. Rajasthan Royals won that match by 32 runs.