Royal Review: Sanju Seals First Victory for Rajasthan

In this world, nothing is certain but life, death, taxes, and Sanju Samson crossing 50 in the first game of the IPL. For a player often criticised for his inconsistency over a season, there’s something about an opener that gets him in the mood.

As enjoyable a knock as it was, it was also highly necessary in the context of the game. Neither Buttler nor Jaiswal had crossed 30, and the feel was that the innings could go either way depending on the next wicket. What happened next was a highly enjoyable watch as Samson with Riyan Parag took the Royals clear from danger, and into a commanding position.

For me, a major positive in this game was that the Royals set a strong total without either of their big guns doing the heavy lifting. Over 2022 and 2023 respectively there was a pretty hefty reliance on Buttler and Jaiswal to set the foundation and tone for the innings. They stick around, and players like Samson and Shimron Hetmyer build on top.

This was an example of how good Sanju Samson can be at being the main man. This might seem a strange thing to say about the captain, and a player who has 21 50s and 3 100s to his name, but Sanju is a player that feels like he can still reach another level. On days like these you see a player capable of putting himself at the very top. The word imperious feels like an apt description, bowl whatever you want, he’ll hit you to the boundary and look good doing it.

The theme of different people getting it done held up across the game. I often joke that Riyan Parag can’t be mentioned without suggesting that ‘this year is his year’, but he played a major part in the win with his contribution from No.4. Similarly, it was the much maligned death bowling that sealed the win instead of squandering it.

To say the Royals have had some problems with death bowling would be modest. Across the last two seasons, they have struggled to find a consistent answer for who they trust to close a game. Trent Boult is the master of the Powerplay, but his diminishing returns later on makes it better to give him 3 overs upfront. What this means is that it often falls on the domestic pace bowlers to see the game out. This time it was down to Sandeep Sharma and Avesh Khan.

For Avesh this had the potential to be a very scary game. In sport there is always plenty of pressure on players facing their former teams, and the Padikkal-Avesh swap was one that attracted some discontent on both sides. To his credit, he produced a no-nonsense spell. Keeping his economy to 7 he held his nerve and saw out a nice and uneventful 20^th over.

But I want to give Sandeep some extra praise. After last season’s infamous capitulation against Sunrisers Hyderabad, it would be fair to say there was some nervousness upon seeing Sandeep kept in the eleven to bowl at the death. Given he is more renowned for his new ball ability, this is a drastically different role to be given.

With KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran starting to take the game into uncomfortable territory, it was vital to break this partnership one way or another. Sandeep managed to stem the flow of runs, and take the wicket of KL.

In his post-match interview, Sanju Samson said he would personally have given his Player of the Match award to Sandeep, and I think this does a good job summing up the game. No one player won this game, it was a definitive team effort. For a team sometimes criticised as being reliant on star turns, this was an incredibly welcome sight, and one that could bode well for the rest of the season.