The journey of Rajasthan Royals in IPL 2024 ended with a 36-run defeat at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Qualifier 2 in Chennai on Friday. The Royals were tasked to chase 176 but the absence of dew let the Sunrisers’ spinners – Shahbaz Ahmed and Abhishek Sharma – run through the RR middle order. The duo shared five wickets to restrict Sanju Samson & Co to 139 for 7.
Speaking after a gut-wrenching loss, RR skipper Samson admitted that Abhishek and Shahbaz caught them off guard.
“We were found short of options in the middle overs against their spin, that’s where we lost the game,” Sanju said. “The wicket started behaving differently in the second innings, the ball started turning a bit, and they used that advantage really well. They bowled their spin in the middle overs against our right-handed batsmen, that’s where they were one-up against us.
“Against their left-arm spin, when the ball was stopping, we could have tried a bit more reverse-sweep or maybe use of the crease a bit more. They also bowled really well,” he added.
Samson also highlighted the contribution of Sandeep Sharma who went unsold in the players’ auction and later joined the camp as a replacement for injured Prasidh Krishna.
“I am really happy for him. By not being picked in the auctions and coming back as a replacement. the way he bowled, he has definitely delivered. If we look at the numbers, Sandeep Sharma in the last two years, he will be the next guy after (Jasprit) Bumrah. He has done a great job,” Samson said.
