Watch: Sanju Samson Rattles Rashid Khan With 3 Consecutive Sixes In Same Over

17.04.2023 - 05:51 sports.ndtv.com

It isn't often that one sees Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan being taken apart by batters. In the match between Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals, Sanju Samson took Rashid to the cleaners, smashing three consecutive sixes against him in a single over.

One of the cleanest hitters, Samson displayed his attacking prowess at full capacity, leaving arguably the finest spin bowler in the world rattled.

Courtesy of Samson's exploits, Rajasthan Royals went on to chase down the target of 178 runs against the Titans with 4 balls to spare.

Rajasthan looked in trouble after losing four batters for just 55 runs. However, skipper Samson wasn't willing to let things slip by.

cricket watch Rajasthan Royals Sanju Samson Gujarat Titans Shimron Hetmyer Rashid Khan Afghanistan Sanju

Rashid Khan led Gujarat Titans' charge at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur as the defending champions outclassed last season's beaten finalists, Rajasthan Royals, in their IPL 2023 match on Friday. Rashid rattled RR's middle-order with the wickets of Ravichandran Ashwin, Riyan Parag, and Shimron Hetmyer. While Rashid's reputation and exploits are well known in world cricket, his 18-year-old compatriot Noor Ahmad has also thrived for GT this season. Noor has already picked up 10 wickets in his debut IPL season, complementing Rashid in the middle overs.

Watch: Horrible Confusion Between Sanju Samson And Yashasvi Jaiswal Results In Poor Run Out In RR vs GT IPL 2023 Game

Rajasthan Royals had a forgettable outing against Gujarat Titans in an IPL 2023 game on Friday. Batting first, the Sanju Samson-led side could not even touch 120 and ultimately lost the game by nine wickets. Rajasthan Royals coach Kumar Sangakkara termed the team's performance against the defending champions Gujarat Titans as "extremely poor" and "embarrassing". Rajasthan succumbed to a total of 118 in 17.5 overs in the Indian Premier League match against GT on the home turf. The GT batters didn't even break a sweat while chasing the target, as they registered a comfortable 9-wicket victory to reclaim the top spot in the group stage. Throughout the match, Rajasthan struggled to build on the openings that they created.

'Problem, Trouble': On Misfiring Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler, Ex-India Opener's Hard Take

Former India cricketer Aakash Chopra has pointed out that Jos Buttler's mediocre performance and Sanju Samson's poor show with the bat in IPL 2023 is a cause of concern for Rajasthan Royals. It is worth noting that Samson is the captain of the side while Buttler opens the batting. Both of them are key batters in the RR line-up, but have failed to live up to the expectations in the ongoing season so far. Buttler -- who won the Orange Cap in IPL 2022 -- has scored 289 across 9 matches, while Samson has 212 runs to his name after playing an equal number of matches in IPL 2023.

Watch: "Dismissal That Had World Talking!" IPL Posts Fresh Clear Video Of Controversial Rohit Sharma Wicket vs RR

The Mumbai Indians vs Rajasthan Royals encounter at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday was a perfect high-scoring thriller. Chasing a 213-run target, MI got home in the final over but not before a controversial dismissal grabbed the limelight. RR pacer Sandeep Sharma smartly outplayed MI opener Rohit Sharma with a knuckle delivery on the final ball of the second over of the innings. The ball deceived Rohit, who was not at all ready for it, and clipped off the bail of the middle and off stump.

"Sanju Samson Has Similar Qualities To MS Dhoni": Ex-India Captain's Big Remark

Former India captain Ravi Shastri has drawn similarity between the captaincy of Sanju Samson and MS Dhoni. Shastri feels that the qualities of Samson as a leader are similar to that of Dhoni. The ex-India all-rounder lauded Samson for his "calm and composed" behaviour. Currently, both Samson and Dhoni are playing in IPL 2023. While the younger one is leading the Rajasthan Royals team, the elder one is capatining Chennai Super Kings. Dhoni has been leading CSK since 2008, but Samson was passed RR's capaincy baton ahead of IPL 2021.

How Sanju Samson's High-Risk Strategy Helped Him Outplay MS Dhoni's CSK

It isn't often that we see the Sawai Mansingh Stadium seeing 200-plus totals. As Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson decided to bat first after winning the toss, there were many who had apprehensions over the decision. However, Samson knew what he had to do. Courtesy of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel's heroics, the Royals put 202 runs on the board while restricting Chennai Super Kings to just 170/6. Even MS Dhoni admitted that the total was too much for his side to chase.