'Should give trophy to...' - Sanju Samson declares unworthiness of Player of the Match accolade

The Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals (RR) were up against the KL Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the fourth match of the Indian Premier League 2024 (IPL 2024) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday, March 24.

Winning the toss and batting first, Rajasthan Royals did a fantastic job and made sure that they posted a massive total on the board. Almost every Royals batter came up with a significant contribution with two players crossing the 40-run mark.

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal continued his red-hot form and smashed quickfire 24 runs to provide his team with a flying. The momentum was further carried on by the skipper Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag and the duo batted magnificently to push the opposition on the backfoot.

Sanju Samson was the top performer for Rajasthan Royals as he smashed 82 runs off 52 balls, with 3 fours and 6 sixes. Riyan Parag, on the other hand, scored 43 runs off 29 balls with, one four and 3 sixes. In the end, Dhruv Jurel smashed 20 runs as RR posted 193/4 on the board.

Chasing the target, KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran slammed terrific half-centuries but that wasn’t enough for the win as other batters weren’t up to the mark. Nicholas Pooran was unbeaten till the very end and he finished his innings at the score of 64 runs as LSG were restricted to 173/6.

For Rajasthan Royals, Trent Boult bagged two wickets while Sandeep Sharma, Nandre Burger, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Ravichandran Ashwin picked up one wicket each.

Always great fun to spend time in the middle – Sanju Samson

Speaking during the post-match presentation ceremony, Sanju Samson said that he loves spending time in the middle and revealed he now has a new role in the team. He said:

“Always great fun to spend time in the middle. Becomes more special when you win the game. This time I’ve been given different kind of role with slightly different combination we have.”

Sanju Samson further said that Kumar Sangakkara has given him some tips that he is following to succeed. He elaborated:

“Sanga has given me some suggestions to follow. I’ve been playing IPL for 10 years – there has to be some experience coming in. I feel I need to spend more time and understand conditions. Playing international ODIs also helped me. It’s all about understanding your strengths and weaknesses. I’m a batsman who just reacts to the ball – no matter the first ball or the last ball.”

Sanju Samson also made a heartwarming statement after winning the Player of the Match award, saying that he should give his trophy to pacer Sandeep Sharma, who did a brilliant job in the death. Sanju Samson said that Sandeep is a trustworthy bowler and he always delivers under pressure. He said:

“I have should give this trophy to him (Sandeep). If he didn’t bowl those three overs, I wouldn’t be POTM. I thought I should call him. I heard Ash bhai say it’s not just about skill but character in pressure moments. He has that in his eyes, in his body language that you can trust that guy.”