IPL 2021: Kumar Sangakkara Defends Sanju Samson For Denying A Single To Chris Morris, Says RR Skipper Took Responsibility To Finish Game

Rajasthan Royals’ Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara has defended Sanju Samson over the incident of denying a single to Chris Morris during the IPL 2021 match against Punjab Kings. Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson denied running a single when his team needed 5 runs off 2 balls to win. Sangakkara said that Sanju backed himself to finish the game which was encouraging to see.

On the penultimate ball of the final over, Rajasthan Royals needed 5 runs off 2 balls. Sanju Samson, who was batting at 119 off 63 balls, played a shot towards the extra cover region. Since he could only take a single over that shot, Samson sent back non-striker Chris Morris after the latter had almost reached the other end. There was a confusing exchange of faces between Morris and Samson after the incident. Till that time, Morris had played 4 balls and scored 2 runs.

Encouraging To See Sanju Samson Do That, Says Kumar Sangakkara

During the post-match presentation, Kumar Sangakkara backed Sanju Samson’s decision. He said that Sanju Samson took the responsibility of victory on himself which was encouraging to see.

“I think Sanju backed himself to get the job done and he nearly did. He was five or six yards short of hitting the last ball for a six and sometimes when you know you’re hitting the ball well and you’re in form and you believe that you can do it, you’ve got to take that responsibility. And it was really encouraging to see Sanju do that.”

The former Sri Lanka player Sangakkara also believes that next time Samson will hit 10 yards further to win the game for Rajasthan Royals.

“We can always talk about a missed single here or there but the crucial thing for me is the players’ belief in attitude and commitment and they know what their strengths are. And Sanju took it upon himself to finish that game and he just fell a few yards short. That happens, but the next time I’ll believe he’ll hit it that 10 yards further to win us the game,” he further said.

Sanju Samson’s denial of single to Chris Morris did not yield fruitful results for Rajasthan Royals as he failed to cross the boundary on the next ball. With 5 runs needed off 1 ball, Sanju Samson needed to hit a six to win the game or at least a boundary to tie the match. He smashed a flight shot towards extra-cover but was caught out. Punjab Kings won the match by 4 runs in the end.