IPL 2024: Everyone recognises their role, does it and moves on – Sanju Samson hails collective show against MI

Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson lauded the collective effort of the team after they defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday to register their third win of the season. Samson said that every player is aware of their respective role and all of them are doing it with great consistency.

After electing to bowl first, Rajasthan Royals had Mumbai Indians under the cosh as Trent Boult breathed down the neck of the hosts’ top order with his swing. Boult had Rohit Sharma (caught behind) and Naman Dhir (LBW) dismissed in the very first over. Subsequently, the New Zealander got rid of impact substitute Dewald Brevis to have MI tottering at 14-3.

MI could not get going as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals and managed only 125-9 in their 20 overs.

On the other hand, Riyan Parag continued his rich form as he scored an unbeaten knock of 54 runs off just 39 balls to score his second consecutive fifty and helped the team chase down the target.

Sanju Samson said in the post-match presentation, “I think the toss was the game changer. The wicket was too sticky to start off, and the experience of Boult and Burger helped us. He’s playing since 10-15 years, and that is what we expected with the new ball. Didn’t expect 4-5 wickets to fall, but we knew our bowlers would do well. We know we have big individuals in our team, but where we stand out is everyone recognises their role, does it and moves on. The likes of Ash and Chahal realised we had a good powerplay, and they kept it tight without really looking for wickets.”

Meanwhile, Yuzvendra Chahal kept the pressure on the MI batters, returning with 3-11 in his quota of four overs. Samson was all praise for the leg-spinner and said he is all fired up for the ongoing season.

The RR skipper concluded, “I think he was really fired up for this IPL, and he’s been doing well for the past 2-3 years for us.”

Rajasthan Royals will next take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur on Saturday.