IPL 2024: Sanju Samson Hails ‘Character’ Shown By Rajasthan Royals As RR Eliminate Royal Challengers Bengaluru
New Delhi: Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson hailed the character shown by his boys after their win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) on Wednesday in the Eliminator and advance into the IPL 2024 Qualifier 2. In Qualifier 2, Rajasthan Royals face Sunrisers Hyderabad for a place in the final. Kolkata Knight Riders have already qualified for the summit clash after a win over SRH.
Having won eight of their first nine games and cementing a spot in the top two, Rajasthan Royals endured a slump in form as they lost their next four games on the trot. To make matters worse, their final league game against KKR also got washed out that pushed them to third position.
“What cricket and life has taught us is we will have some good and some really bad phases. But we need to have the character to bounce back,” Samson said after the game. Sent into bat, RCB scored 172/8, thanks to knocks from Rajat Patidar (34), Virat Kohli (33) and Mahipal Lomror (32).
In reply, Rajasthan Royals chased down the target of 173 with six balls to spare. Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal struck a 30-ball 45, while Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer chipped in with quick-fire 36 and 26 respectively.
In bowling, senior India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowled beautifully to finish with excellent figures of 2/19 in four overs while taking the wickets of Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell off successive balls. Avesh Khan took 3/44 in his four overs.
“Really happy with the way we fielded, we batted and we bowled today. Credit to the bowlers, they are always looking at what the opposition batters would do and what fields to set. Credit goes to Sanga and bowling coach Bond as well. They’ve spent a lot of time in hotel rooms discussing these things,” he added.
Meanwhile, Samson also admitted everything is not well in the Rajasthan Royals dressing room as a lot of players aren’t 100 per cent fit. “I’m not a 100% actually. There is a bug in the dressing room, lots of coughs and a lot of people are a bit unwell,” he added.