Watch: Krunal Pandya's unexpected gesture after Sanju Samson stops him from taking Riyan Parag's catch

A heartwarming incident involving Krunal Pandya took place during the ongoing game between Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.

Both teams are opening their respective campaigns in IPL 2024 through the ongoing game. RR skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and opted to bat first. However, his openers could not justify their captain’s call as both of them departed inside the powerplay.

Jos Buttler was the first to go. After hitting Naveen-ul-Haq for two fours in the second over, the England captain edged the fast bowler’s delivery behind the stumps where KL Rahul took a fine catch. Buttler’s partner Yashasvi Jaiswal was looking in good touch and was batting on 24 off just 11 balls before being dismissed by Mohsin Khan in the fifth over.

Krunal Pandya was introduced into the attack in the sixth over and could have had his first wicket of the game on the very second delivery. He bowled a flighted delivery on the off stump and Riyan Parag could not keep his shot grounded. The right-handed batsman ballooned the ball towards the right of Sanju Samson at the non-striker’s end.

Krunal Pandya went for the catch but was interrupted by Samson as he collided with the RR skipper. Usually, bowlers get angry at such actions but Krunal Pandya came up with a brilliant gesture. The LSG allrounder hugged Samson before walking away to bowl the next delivery.

Watch Krunal Pandya’s brilliant gesture:

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Krunal Pandya is celebrating his 33rd birthday today and would be hoping to come up with a match-winning performance for his team. At the time of writing this report, he had delivered two overs and had conceded only nine runs. Talking about RR, they were on 84 for 2 after 9 overs.

Krunal Pandya had a decent campaign last year and would be eyeing another good season this year. In IPL 2023, he scored 188 runs in addition to picking up nine wickets while maintaining an economy rate of less than eight.