Former India fast bowler Sreesanth has called for the inclusion of wicket-keeper batsman Sanju Samson in India’s playing XI in the 2024 T20 World Cup. However, instead of replacing first-choice wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant, Sreesanth has suggested Samson being played as a pure batsman ahead of Shivam Dube. Sreesanth’s advice comes with the criteria that, if Shivam Dube does not bowl, Team India might be better off picking a better batsman in Samson. In fact, Samson should be included as a finisher, said Sreesanth.

“If they (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli) are opening, I don’t see any reason to change the XI. Axar Patel is bowling well. If you look at Shivam Dube, yes, he hasn’t played well in the first two games, but we know what he can do with the bat. But I would like to see one change, and that is Sanju Samson come in the team,” Sreesanth told ANI.

“If Shivam Dube is not bowling, then Sanju (Samson) should be given an opportunity; we know he is good enough,” said Sreesanth.

“I spoke to him the other day; he is hungry for an opportunity,” he added. “He is also a Superman fielder,” Sreesanth said.

Sreesanth and Samson both hail from the state of Kerala, in India.

Despite Samson usually batting at no. 3 in the IPL, Sreesanth suggested that he should be deployed as a finisher in the T20 World Cup.

“I feel Sanju comes in last along with Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja. I think we can finish on a big score if we are chasing, with Virat being the chase master king. I don’t see any score being that difficult for us to chase,” said Sreesanth, a winner of the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 Cricket World Cup.

Dube played a crucial role in taking India to victory against the USA. Coming in to bat with India lying at 39-3, Dube and Suryakumar Yadav ensured India reach home safely, and qualify for the Super 8 stage.

Samson enjoyed his most successful IPL to date before the T20 World Cup. He finished as the fifth-highest run-getter in IPL 2024, with 531 runs from 15 innings for the Rajasthan Royals.

India are confirmed to face Australia and Afghanistan in the Super 8.

Virat Kohli slammed 741 runs including a century and five fifties in IPL 2024.© BCCI

Sanju Samson walking back to the pavilion during RR’s IPL 2024 Qualifier 2 match vs SRH.© BCCI

Tom Moody slammed Sanju Samson over his “tactical blunder” against SRH.© BCCI

Sunrisers Hyderabad skipper Pat Cummins said on Friday that it was a gratifying experience to see the team turn around its fate and reach the IPL final after a disastrous 2023 season. SRH had finished at the last spot in 2023 but Cummins, who was roped in for a whopping Rs 20.50 crore, scripted a sensational turnaround for the franchise, taking the team to the final with a 36-run win over Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 on Friday. “The boys have been fantastic all season. There’s a great vibe in the squad as you can see and the final was the goal at the start of the season and we made it,” Cummins said at the post-match presentation.

“It is for the whole franchise, probably 60 or 70 of them who put their heart and soul into this. It is really gratifying and hopefully one more left.” Sent in to bat, SRH posted 175 for nine, riding on Heinrich Klaasen’s 34-ball 50 and contributions from Travis Head (34) and Rahul Tripathi (37).

The spinners then joined the party with Shahbaz Ahmed (3/23) and Abhishek Sharma (2/24) sharing five wickets as RR could manage just 139 for 7 in 20 overs. Cummins (1/30) and T Natarajan (1/13) also scalped one each.

“We knew our strength was our batting and we wouldn’t underestimate the experience we have in this squad, it’s a dream having Bhuvi, Nattu and Unadkat, makes my job easy.

On Abhishek’s bowling, Cummins said: “That was a surprise, tried to stick one out of him with a couple of right-handers and he bowled beautifully and those two won it with their bowling in the middle overs.

“170 was a tough chase and had we got a couple of wickets we knew we had a chance.” Rajasthan captain Sanju Samson rued that his batters couldn’t find a way to tackle the spinners.

“It was a big game. I am really proud of the way we bowled in the first innings. We were found short of options in the middle overs against their spin, that’s where we lost the game,” he said.

“It’s very hard to guess actually when we are expecting some dew or when we are not. The wicket started behaving differently in the second innings, the ball started turning a bit, 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.” Samson said the batters could have tried something different to upset the spinners.

“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.” On Sandeep Sharma, who bowled beautifully on the slow track in the middle overs, Samson said: “I am really happy for him. From 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 Bumrah. He has done a great job.” He also lavished praise on the young players of his side.

“We have had some brilliant games not only this season but from the last three years, it has been a great project for our franchise. We have found some really great talent for the country.

“Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel and a lot of them are looking really exciting not only for RR but definitely for the Indian cricket team. We have had some great seasons from the last three years.”

Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Rajasthan Royals, Qualifier 2 – Live Cricket Score© BCCI

Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson on Wednesday said “a few of us are not 100 percent” fit but expressed confidence that they have got the momentum back with the four-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL eliminator here. RR entered the eliminator following a run of four defeats. “What cricket and life has taught us is we will have some great days, we will have some really bad days. But we need to have the character to bounce back. The way we batted, bowled and fielded, I am really happy. All the credit has to go to the players,” Samson said at post-match presentation.

“We look at the field set and planning, the credit has to go to Sanga (Kumar Sangakkara) and the team of support staff for discussing tactics.

“Ashwin and Avesh bowled tremendously well. If you look at our batting unit, there is a lot of youngsters. They are 22-years old, they are less experienced but they played well.” Samson added, “A few of us are not 100%. I’m not a 100% actually. There is a bug in the dressing room, lots of coughs and a lot of people are a bit unwell. But we have the momentum now, so the dressing room is confident.” RCB captain Faf du Plessis, whose side made the play-offs from the brink of elimination, said it takes a lot of heart to win six games in a row but admitted they were few runs short of what could have been a challenging total in the knockout match against RR.

“With the dew coming, we felt we were short with the bat. Did think we were 20 runs shy of what was a good score,” Du Plessis said.

The South African veteran added, “Credit to the boys – they fought really well. That’s all you can ask for. If you look at naturally assessing the pitch and conditions, you would say it’s a 180 pitch because it was swinging upfront and was quite slow.

“But what we’ve found out this season, with the impact player, the par score isn’t enough any more. Also with the dew coming in, we knew we had to score more to challenge them.” Speaking abut their fine run after a disastrous start to the tournament, he said, “A lot of teams, their wheels would have fallen off after 1 from 9. But we made sure to gave our best and to come back like that – six games in a row – takes a lot of heart.”

The RCB vs RR IPL 2024 was one closely fought contest. Defending a total of 172, Royal Challengers Bengaluru fought hard but ultimately fell short. They were on a six-match winning streak but all that meant nothing as Sanju Samson-led RR turned up the heat when it needed the most. Rajasthan Royals, winner of the 2008 IPL, had some poor outings in the last couple of weeks losing four matches on the trot. But the side showed character and won against a resurgent RCB. 

After RR bowlers restricted RCB to 172, their batters gave them a steady start. After the first wicket fell, the stand between Yashasvi Jaiswal (45) and Sanju Samson (17) when there was an interesting incident on the second ball of the ninth over by Karn Sharma. 

Jaiswal and Samson took a single. The latter wanted a second but was sent back. Samson was casual while coming back and even stared back at Jaiswal before even grounding his bat. The ball was in Karn Sharma’s hand and had he been more alert, Samson would have been easily run out.

Seeing that Sunil Gavaskar had an interesting advice. “This is not the time to have a go at your teammate. A run will not make a difference but a run out will,” Sunil Gavaskar said on air. 

Talking about the match, Rajasthan Royals ended Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s eventful campaign in the Indian Premier League with a four-wicket win in the Eliminator here on Wednesday.

Sent into bat, Royal Challengers Bengaluru scored 172/8. In reply, Rajasthan Royals chased down the target of 173 with six balls to spare.

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal struck a 30-ball 45, while Riyan Parag and Shimron Hetmyer chipped in with quick-fire 36 and 26 respectively.

Earlier, Rajat Patidar top-scored for RCB with 34 off 22 balls.

In-form opener Virat Kohli made 33 off 24 balls before falling to wily leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, while Mahipal Lomror scored a brisk 17-ball 32.

Senior India off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin bowled beautifully to finish with excellent figures of 2/19 in four overs while taking the wickets of Cameron Green and Glenn Maxwell off successive balls. Avesh Khan took 3/44 in his four overs.

With PTI inputs

Former India batter Ambati Rayudu believes that Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) will be firm favourites in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 Eliminator against Rajasthan Royals, scheduled on Wednesday at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad. Faf du Plessis-led are on a six-match winning streak that guided them to a playoff spot in the league. RCB pushed defending champion Chennai Super Kings out of the playoff race after a 27-run win at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday. Sharing his thoughts on the Eliminator clash, Rayudu backed Bengaluru over Rajasthan as the latter are coming after a washout against Kolkata Knight Riders that dropped them to third place in the points table.

“I think RCB are clear favourites for me, because of the way they are playing and they’ve had a clinical game against CSK and for RR I don’t know if this gap in play will help, this washout would help them in going into an eliminator against RCB who I feel right now are a matured side and every player over there knows his role. So I think RCB are the ones who will eventually go into qualifiers 2,” Rayudu said on Star Sports Cricket Live.

Meanwhile, former India pacer Varun Aaron also echoed Rayudu’s sentiments and backed RCB in the clash. He added that Virat Kohli deserves the IPL title after putting his ‘heart and soul’ to the side.

“He’s got a trophy to get. That’s what’s left for him. One thing that he’s not got in all these years is the IPL trophy. He’s given his heart and soul to this franchise. The fans love him, and the fans from other teams also love him.

“But the IPL has been that elusive one for Virat Kohli which he has to get this year. He will want to get that this year, especially after you win six games on the trot and go into a playoff like this.”

“All it does to you is heighten your self-belief, not just his, but the whole team. So they are going to go in with a lot of belief, very contrasting to the Rajasthan Royals who are going in with a lot of doubts. So it’s going to be a very interesting encounter and I completely back RCB on this one just because of the momentum they are taking into this encounter,” he added.

Further, Rayudu feels that Qualifier 1 between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) will be an ‘epic’ encounter in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.

“I think it’s the openers in the powerplay that comes to my mind for both teams. The match can be decided in the powerplay. Whoever plays that initial part well will have an advantage and also going into the playoffs, it’s like a different tournament. It’s not the same, because the league phase is different.

“But from now on teams will treat each match as a final, and KKR will be no different. For SRH, Pat Cummins knows Ahmedabad well, he’s had great memories over there. So it will be an epic encounter,” the veteran cricketer said.