IPL 2022: RR skipper Sanju Samson praises GT counterpart Hardik Pandya for his all-round performance
Apr 14, 2022
Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 15 : After facing the defeat against Gujarat Titans by 37 runs in IPL 2022 on Thursday, Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson praised GT captain Hardik Pandya for his brilliant unbeaten knock of 87 runs.
Skipper Hardik Pandya's unbeaten half-century was backed by a spirited performance of bowlers as Gujarat Titans defeated Rajasthan Royals by 37 runs in their IPL 2022 match here at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy on Thursday.
Debutants Gujarat Titans' fourth victory in the five matches has taken them to the top of the Indian Premier League 2022 table while for Rajasthan Royals' this is their second loss in the league as they fall to the third spot.
"You can say that (if Gurajat got 10-15 extra runs). But I would like to give credit to their batters. Hardik played a very good innings, they played really well to get that score. If we had wickets in hand this was chasable I feel. We were almost there in terms of run rate, in the powerplay we had a better run rate actually, But we kept losing wickets. Freaky niggle last night in training, definitely missed him (Boult). Hopefully he will be back soon. He (Hardik) had a really good day today, batted, bowled and fielded well," said Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson in a post-match presentation.
"I have played enough number of years in this league to understand that each game is crucial. Very important to learn and comeback stronger in the next game. I was doing No. 3 continuously till last season. So we decided to have that flexibility, come down at No. 4 or 5 or wherever the team needs me. Having someone like R Ashwin allows us to do that, Devdutt Padikkal batted 3 in the first three games. So it all depends on the combination we are playing." he added.
Opener Jos Buttler's quick knock of 54 went in vain for RR while for GT, Lockie Ferguson and debutant Yash Dayal were the picks among the bowlers. The pace duo scalped three wickets each. GT skipper Hardik also scalped a wicket and forced a run-out.