Rajasthan Royals face defeat in their 1st match against Punjab Kings in the IPL 2021. RR required 5 runs to win the match on the last ball but Sanju Samson got out in an attempt to hit a six.
Actually, RR required to get 5 runs in the last 2 balls of the match and RR’s captain Sanju Samson was on strike.
But he declined the single on the 2nd last ball of the match and sent Chris Morris back to the non-striker’s end and kept strike himself.
He failed to hit six on the last ball and this sparked controversy whether he was right to keep strike or wrong.
Several people including RR’s director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara and former Indian cricketer and commentator Sanjay Manjarekar have shared their opinion on this event.
Majarekar said, “It was more likely that Sanju Samson would hit a six and not the fact that new batsman Chris Morris would hit a four. Samson’s decision to keep the strike with himself on the last ball was correct.”
India’s former female cricketer Snehal Pradhan has also said that Sanju made the right decision.
Kumar Sangakkara also supported Samson’s decision. He said, “I think Sanju backed himself that he would lead the team to victory. He missed doing so from a few yards. You have to take responsibility and it was good to see Sanju doing this.
Not necessarily. It’s whether you think Samson is more likely to hit a 6 than Morris is to hit 4 or 6. The way Samson was hitting it I can see why he would have confidence in himself.
No wrong answer really https://t.co/shzLCGkxRZ
— Jimmy Neesham (@JimmyNeesh) April 12, 2021
Have no problem with Samson turning down that single. He would have backed himself to hit at least a four.#RRvPBKS
— Snehal Pradhan (@SnehalPradhan) April 12, 2021
Greater possibility of Samson hitting a six in that form than new batsman in Morris hitting a four. Right call by Samson to keep strike last ball I thought.
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) April 12, 2021
Samson played a phenomenal innings of 119 runs off 63 balls but failed to make his team win. He was given man of the match award for his innings. He also became the 1st player in the IPL who hit a century on his captaincy debut.
