Lose the toss and win the game, that has been the perfect mantra for Sanju Samson and his Rajasthan Royals. Sounds easy but mind you, Royals has now lost seven tosses and have been asked to bat on all occasions and their bowlers have successfully defended the target six times.
The only time Samson won the toss was against Gujarat Titans and their batsman let him down when they were not able to chase the target of 192. When defending a target, his bowlers let by the willy Yuzvendra Chahal - who has already picked up 18 wickets and less than seven an over with an astonishing average of 12.71. The other bowlers of the team like Ravichandran Ashwin, Prasidh Krishna, Trent Boult and Kuldeep Sen too have put their hand up and supported the teams cause in defending totals.
Out of the 39 games which has happened till Tuesday, the captains have decided to chase 38 times after winning the toss and only Hardik Pandya was bold enough to bat first against KKR. Even Samson, when asked after losing the toss in the seven games, said he wanted to bat first but it had been a blessing in disguise for him and his team Rajasthan Royals. Their batsmen, lead by Jos Buttler, has been able to give him a decent score for his bowlers to defend. In Tuesday’s match when Buttler failed, it was Riyan Parag who came to the party and helped them reach 145 against Royal Challengers Bangalore and they managed to win it by a big margin of 29 runs.
With the wickets getting tired in the second half of IPL, it would be wise for Samson and his team to bat first which has helped them win matches instead of going for the chase. Why would you change your winning style when it’s working? Easier said than done but if his batters support and Buttler and Samson himself score big runs, Royals are the team to beat in this tournament.
- Cricket enthusiast Anis Sajan is the Vice Chairman of Danube Group
