Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson has been penalised for maintaining a slow over-rate during their clash with Gujarat Titans on Wednesday (April 10) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur.
Rajasthan who entered the game on the back of a four-match-long winning streak, tasted their first defeat of the 17th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL) as Titans held their nerve to sink them by three wickets in a nail-biting contest.
Samson has been penalised Rs 12 lakh for the incident being the first of its kind for Rajasthan in the ongoing season under the IPL’s Code of Conduct relating to minimum over rate offences.
Notably, Samson enjoyed a wonderful evening with the willow in hand as the Rajasthan skipper played an unbeaten 68-run knock off just 38 balls. The 29-year-old hammered seven fours and two sixes during his whirlwind innings and batted at a strike rate of 178.94 to take his side to 196 for the loss of three wickets in their 20 overs.
Samson was involved in a 130-run stand with Riyan Parag for the third wicket after Rajasthan lost both their openers inside the first six overs and with just 42 runs on the board. Riyan also contributed with a 76-run knock. Riyan's innings came at a strike rate of 158.33 and was studded with three boundaries and five sixes.
Samson was at a loss for words when he was asked to pinpoint the juncture where the game slipped off their hands. He credited Gujarat Titans (GT) for their all-round effort on the field of play and took lessons from the defeat.
"(On where did Rajasthan lose) The last ball of the game (laughs). To be honest, it is very hard to speak at this moment. The captain has the hardest job in the league to speak after losing the game and to tell where we lost is tough. Maybe after a few hours, I can tell," said Sanju during the post-match presentation.
"You have to give credit to the Gujarat Titans the way they batted, bowled and fielded. We will learn from this and move on."
"(On the score) When I was batting, I thought something around 180 would be a fighting score. I thought 197 was a winning score. There was no dew and the wicket was a bit dry and low. With our bowling attack, we should have done it but they batted well. It was not easy to go hard enough at the start of our innings. We paced our innings well. 197 at Jaipur, without dew, you will take it any day," he added.
