‘We will take one game at a time’ – Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals have registered a comfortable win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in their first match in the IPL 2022 in Pune on Tuesday (March 29). While the batting unit did exceptionally well and put up a massive total of 210 in their allotted 20 overs. The RR bowlers bowled exceptionally well and won the game by 61 runs.

However, pace-spearhead Prasidh Krishna was the one who provided the first breakthrough, and their continuous attacks didn’t settle SRH’s batting order down in the middle.

Krishna said after the win: “There was some good bounce and seam. Hitting those hard lengths was helping me. We were speaking outside when Jos got out. He said it was tough to hit off good lengths. Tried to hit those areas. 

It’s usually the captain thinking from the team’s perspective and the bowler thinking about how he’s feeling and what he can impact for the team. We get together and speak about the decision. Boult bowled really well; his pressure helped me pick up a couple of wickets. Had a couple of practice games. Everybody’s had a good hit, had a good bowl.”

Meanwhile, Sanju Samson, who won the Man of the Match award for his stunning knock of 55, said: “I think it was a different wicket than what we thought. The wicket was helping the fast bowlers if you hit the typical Test match lengths. No long time goals. Happy to contribute to the team’s victory. 

I worked on my fitness. I chose the right scoring opportunities. Tried to spend time in the wicket. Leaders like Sangakkara help me a lot. A lot of cricketing brains has gone in to pick the right side. This season we have come in with great dreams. Our owners take great care of us. Lot of good sides, and we will take one game at a time.”

However, it was a rather forgettable beginning for SRH, including skipper Kane Williamson. He got out for a mere 2 while opening for his side. While praising Rajasthan Royals for their stunning show with both the bat and the ball, he admitted that they need to work on the loopholes and improve as a team too to win games in the tournament.

Kane Williamson said: “We started beautifully with the ball; we had our opportunities. So far, there has been some swing and assistance with the new ball in all the games. You want to make some inroads, we looked very likely, but unfortunately, some fine margins in this game didn’t go our way. 

It was a very good surface; Rajasthan played outstandingly well. There’s still several things to touch on and improve on as a side. You got to keep your chin up and move on to the next one. It (no-balls) is not something familiar to us, it was a surprise in many ways, and we certainly don’t want to do that moving forward.”

He added: “When you take a wicket off a no-ball, it’s never nice. We need to look at areas where we can improve. (On Umran Malik) Incredibly exciting, he’s got that raw pace. Hopefully, he continues to evolve as a cricketer. He’s young, got some experience last year, which was really valuable, and I’m sure he’ll continue to get better. 

As a side and as a young team, we want to make sure that we stay engaged throughout and be nice and clear on what we’re trying to execute. With the bat, it was tough; the ball moved early on we needed to navigate that as well as we could. Unfortunately, today wasn’t our day.”