Kumar Sangakkara praises Sanju Samson self-belief after agonising defeat

Rajasthan needed five runs to win off two balls when Samson, in his first game as captain, sent back South African allrounder Chris Morris, instead believing that he could hit the final delivery for six to win the match

Rajasthan Royals director of cricket Kumar Sangakkara has praised Sanju Samson’s strength of character despite the batsman’s decision to turn down a single off the penultimate ball of his side’s run chase against Punjab Kings failing to pay off.

Rajasthan needed five runs to win off two balls when Samson, in his first game as captain, sent back South African allrounder Chris Morris, instead believing that he could hit the final delivery for six to win the match. However, he was caught by Deepak Hooda on the boundary to lose by four runs.

Samson had good reason for his confidence, striking 119 off just 63 balls in a remarkable innings that brought his team close to an extraordinary victory.

“I think Sanju backed himself to get the job done and he nearly did,” said Sangakkara. “He was five or six yards short of hitting the last ball for a six and sometimes when you know you're hitting the ball well and you’re in form and you believe that you can do it, you’ve got to take that responsibility. And it was really encouraging to see Sanju do that.

“We can always talk about a missed single here or there but the crucial thing for me is the players’ belief in attitude and commitment and they know what their strengths are.

“And Sanju took it upon himself to finish that game and he just fell a few yards short. That happens, but the next time I’ll believe he’ll hit it that 10 yards further to win us the game.”

This was the third IPL century of Samson’s career, and also his fastest. He struck his first almost exactly four years ago on April 11, 2017 with an impressive 102 off 63 deliveries for Delhi Daredevils against Rising Pune Supergiant.

His second followed two years later for Rajasthan Royals in 2019 – an unbeaten 102 off 55 deliveries against Sunrisers Hyderabad – and was also the first triple-digit knock of that tournament.

In scoring his century, Samson became the 22nd player – and the third for Rajasthan Royals – to score 2,000 runs for a single franchise, mirroring the achievement of Punjab Kings captain KL Rahul earlier in the match.

Samson has now struck 2,026 runs for Rajasthan Royals, placing him behind only Ajinkya Rahane and Shane Watson on the club’s all-time list, and 2,703 in his IPL career.

Our coverage of the IPL is brought to you in association with Dafabet India. For more on Dafabet and to place a bet, click here