The Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson said that he feels his Man of the Match award should have indeed gone to pacer Sandeep Sharma following RR’s 20-run win over KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants.
RR started their IPL 2024 campaign with a victory over LSG in Jaipur. Sanju Samson starred with the bat with 82* which helped RR reach 193. Then, Sandeep Sharma delivered a death-overs masterclass.
A new-ball swing bowler for his entire career until last season, Sandeep had been tasked with a death-overs role for this season as RR paired Nandre Burger with Trent Boult for the new ball.
Sandeep Sharma delivered on his first task – with LSG needing 65 runs in 6 overs, with a well-set KL Rahul on strike and with Stoinis and Pooran to bat, Sandeep bowled three overs on a trot – the 15th, 17th, and 19th – returning with figures of 1/22, and taking Rahul’s wicket.
It’s about character in pressure moments: Sanju Samson on Sandeep Sharma
Samson was named the Player of the Match, but in his speech, he credited Sandeep for the win.
Samson said: “I think this trophy should go to him. If he hadn’t bowled those three overs, I wouldn’t be standing with this Man-of-the-Match trophy. I thought about getting him here, but thoda zyada ho jata [that would have been a little performative].”
Further, he praised Sandeep for his steely resolve and temperament while bowling in death overs against LSG. The RR captain added: “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.”
Sandeep revealed he had been given this new role at the start of this season by RR. He has had slower and knuckle ball variations, but now he’s practising them a lot more than before.
Sandeep said, “If you see, I have never had to start a spell on that wide line with the new ball. but today I had to. That said, the management had made it clear to me where I would be bowling majority of my overs so I worked mostly on slower bouncers and yorkers in the nets. I anyway knew I wouldn’t be bowling much with the new ball because Boulty is a world-class bowler, one of the best in the world.”
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