T20 World Cup 2024: Sanju Samson and KL Rahul seats booked for USA and West Indies as claimed by..

Former South African captain Graeme Smith feels that Sanju Samson and KL Rahul have plied their trades for selection in India's ICC T20 World Cup 2024 squad. 

Graeme Smith made this statement after seeing both Sanju Samson and KL Rahul score half-centuries during match number 44 of IPL 2024. The Rajasthan Royals were hosting the Lucknow Super Giants at the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur wherein the hosts stretched their lead on top of the points table. 

Sanju Samson wastes KL Rahul's effort in the 1st innings 

After Rishabh Pant led the Delhi Capitals towards their 5th victory of the season against Mumbai Indians in the afternoon clash, it was time for Samson and Rahul to do their jobs.

LSG Vs RR was a decisive clash in terms of the shake-up in the points table as the visitors had the chance to go as high as 2nd in the points table, which they eventually squandered.

After winning the toss, Sanju Samson asked KL Rahul to bat first to chase down whatever total that LSG posts. Lucknow's innings didn't start well as Quinton de Kock and all-rounder Marcus Stoinis were in the dugout by the 2nd over when the score was at 11.

Then KL Rahul stood for a solid partnership of 115 runs with number 4 batter Deepak Hooda to steady LSG's innings. Both of them had looked in a great touch and their innings was largely responsible for LSG posting 190+ on the board. They could have scored 200+ if Hooda hadn't given away his wicket for 50 off 31. 

And KL Rahul, who had a perfect opportunity to score a century, lost his wicket in the death overs after a well-scored 76 off 48. Elsewhere, Nicholas Pooran's 11 off 11, Ayush Badoni's 18 off 13 and Krunal Pandya's 15 off 11 took LSG's score to 196.

In response, Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal got the Royals off a flyer, scoring 60 runs in the powerplay. However, Buttler departed in the last ball of the powerplay for 34 off 18 while Jaiswal left the crease in the 7th over's first ball for 24 off 18. 1st down Sanju Samson was then at the crease with Riyan Parag, who had an ordinary outing, getting out for just 14 runs. 

Dhruv Jurel came in at number and remained in the crease with Sanju Samson until the winning runs were scored. The duo made a partnership of 121 runs for the 4th wicket with Samson hitting 71 off 33 and Jurel smashing 52 off 34 at 150+ strike rates. That helped Rajasthan Royals take one more step closer to the playoffs with 16 points to their name. 

What did Graeme Smith say? 

While speaking to Jio Cinema after the conclusion of LSG Vs RR, Graeme Smith appreciated both Sanju Samson and KL Rahul for their knocks. The inaugural IPL winner with the Royals stated that both of them showed great intent and that they also found a supporting role in their brilliant knocks. 

However, Smith felt that Rahul could have done more instead of getting out in the death overs and said that Samson's knock was better because he helped in finishing off. In an overall sense, Smith admitted that both Rahul and Samson have raised their hands for the T20 World Cup 2024 selection.

"Both were very similar innings. The pressure was on both captains with wickets falling around them and they needed to stem the flow and get a rhythm going and build a partnership. Rahul did it with Hooda and Sanju did it with Jurel."

"The difference between both was that Sanju finished the game for his side and Rahul got out a key phase of the game for LSG. It was brilliant to see both excellent players really putting their hand up for World Cup selection." - Graeme Smith said via Jio Cinema.