Former Indian cricketer and world cup hero Gautam Gambhir blasted Sanju Samson-ked Rajasthan Royals for their disappointing show in an extremely important match, which led to their exit from the ongoing tournament. Rajasthan Royals were thrashed by Mumbai Indians by eight wickets, shattering all their hopes of making it to the playoffs.
Asked to bat first, RR’s batting line-up collapsed to 90 for 9 in their 20 overs. James Neesham, Nathan Coulter, and Jasprit Bumrah stole the show with the ball as they gave a hard time to the Rajasthan Batsmen. Mumbai Indians’ bowlers did an incredible job with the ball as they dominated over the Rajasthan Royals’ batting line-up.
Later, riding on the match-winning of Ishan Kishan, Mumbai Indians successfully chased the target of only 90 runs.
After the match, Gautam Gambhir analyzed the horror show of the Rajasthan Royals. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Gambhir slammed RR by saying that the team deserved to be knocked out after the manner in which he turned out against Mumbai Indians. He said:
“If you play this kind of cricket, this is what you deserve. You can’t expect to qualify for the playoffs if you play your worst game at the crunch moment. This is where it matters the most and comes down to how much mental strength you have. This is where you can differentiate boys from men,”
Further, Gambhir opined that Mumbai Indians proved there were no demons in the pitch the way they batted. As per him, the gulf between both the team was evident in the Sharjah Cricket Stadium. He said:
“You should never judge the surface until both teams have played on it. Mumbai Indians made it look so easy and it looked like a very good wicket. That just shows how much difference there is in the quality of both the attacks. They (RR) didn’t look like the side who were in the race for qualification. No way,”
Speaking about Ishan Kishan’s match-winning knock of 50 runs, Gambhir claimed that his presence as the opener provides Mumbai Indians with much-needed stability. He said:
“Ishan Kishan took his opportunity with both hands and played really well. He actually played out a maiden over and everyone was talking about whether he should get aggressive. He played some fabulous shots and is going to get a lot of confidence from here.”
