IPL 2024: "We Need Spark!": Samson Demands Improved Performance from Faltering RR Stars
Rajasthan Royals (RR) may have qualified for the Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs but seem to have lost the plot towards the business end of the season. On Wednesday, they lost by 5 wickets to Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Guwahati, their fourth consecutive defeat in the last two weeks. The Punjab Kings restricted the Royals to 144 for nine after the hosts opted to bat first. Local hero Ryan Parag scored 48 off 34 balls on a difficult track while Punjab skipper Sam Curran (2/24), Harshal Patel (2/28), and Rahul Chahar (2/26) shared 6 wickets between them. In reply, Curran scored an unbeaten 63 off 41 balls to ensure an unprecedented victory with seven balls to spare.
Although the Royals, with 16 points, are safe in terms of qualifying for the playoffs, they might not make it to the top two with a lower net run rate as the Sunrisers can go up to 18 points with 2 games to play. Royals skipper Sanju Samson wanted his team to accept 'failures' and urged people to raise their hands and show brilliance as the business end of the IPL begins next week. "To be very honest, we have to sit back and accept that we have been through some setbacks," Samson said during the post-match presentation ceremony. "You have to find out what is not working well as a team. When you get to the business end, we need someone to point the finger and say I will win the game for the team," he added.
The skipper said the team has enough talent to show individual spark under pressure.
“We have players who can do it if we all try. This is a team sport, but these are the times when we need individual players. We expected the wicket to touch better. I think it's not a 140 kind of wicket, we should have got around 160. I think that's where we lost the game," he said. With wickets falling at regular intervals, Royals were forced to use Donovan Ferreira as an impact sub and missed a bowler. “It would have been nice to have one more bowling option; It gets a little tougher when you only have five. But I'm used to it. And we have five quality bowlers,” concluded Sanju.