File photo of Sanju Samson.
After getting criticised for throwing his wicket away by former batsmen like Sunil Gavaskar and Kevin Pietersen, Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson buckled down to play a captain's knock and lead his team to a six-wicket win on a difficult wicket on Saturday against Kolkata Knight Riders.
Samson, who made a century in the first match of the season, lost steam in the next three games as his over-aggression resulted in tame dismissals. His failure reflected in his team's fortunes as they struggled to conjure up wins.
However, his unbeaten 41-ball 42 helped RR reach the 134-run target with ease on Saturday.
"Situation of the match demands the way I play. That's what I've learnt from previous years. Even if you bat and score a quick fifty you feel bad if the team doesn't win," said Samson after the match that lifted his team to sixth in the points table.
Teammate David Miller, who made an unbeaten 23-ball 24 and shared an unbeaten 34-run partnership for fifth wicket with Samson praised his skipper.
"Sanju batted extremely well. He actually did in the first game, came in, showed what he has got. It was a good team performance, nice and clinical," said Miller after the game.
Gavaskar had criticised Samson earlier in the tournament for failing to inspire his team with his performances.
"First and foremost, the captain has to stand up and deliver. He did it in the first game but that has been the problem with him. That is one of the reasons why he has not been featuring in the Indian team is that he scores runs in one game and then he looks to do it and carry on as if he's batting in the next game from the same game, and that's how he keeps getting out," Gavaskar had said on Star Sports recently.
