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It was ‘too close yet too far’ for Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals in the 15th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). After making it into the final of IPL 2022, RR could not lay their hands on the elusive trophy as they were handed a seven-wicket defeat by Gujarat Titans in the summit clash.
Rajasthan never got going on the D-day as they made wrong decisions right from the start. In a game that was expected to be tricky, Samson opted to bat first after winning the toss. The decision was proved wrong straightaway as Yashaswi Jaiswal perished in the powerplay. Samson himself fell cheaply (14 off 11) as he tried to muscle a length ball from Hardik Pandya.
Jos Buttler fought a lone battle till the 12th over but as he was falling short of responsible partners, he too perished while trying to up the ante. As a result, RR could only get to 130/9 in their 20 overs. With a proven match-winner in the opposition camp, it was never going to be an easy defense for RR.
However, Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna did threaten a bit with the new ball. But once that period was gone, GT steadily tightened the grip on the game and eventually won it by seven wickets. With RR failing to win it after making it into an IPL final after 14 long years, fans and experts looked pissed with the RR captain.
Former IPL player Rajat Bhatia was also displeased by the way Samson operated in the big final. While talking to SportsTiger in the post-match show, Bhatia called Samson ‘only an IPL player’ and slammed him for his shambolic performance in the big final. Bhatia pointed out the small innings played by Samson throughout the season and said that the Kerala cricketer did not lead from the front.
“He may have done well as captain but his performances were not up to the mark. He did not lead from the front. He came to bat at No.3 but did not play a single big inning. It may sound harsh but right now, Samson is only good for IPL,” said Bhatia to SportsTiger.
Notably, Samson scored 458 runs in 17 matches at an average of 28.63 in IPL 2022. His highest score this season was 55.