Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson lauded both Yashasvi Jaiswal and Yuzvendra Chahal for their record-breaking performances against the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) on Thursday in the ongoing IPL 2023.
RR decimated KKR by 9 wickets as Chahal starred with the ball, picking 4 wickets and Jaiswal hammered the fastest fifty (13 balls) in the history of the Indian Premier League. Chahal, who was on par with Dwayne Bravo on the all-time wicket-takers list in the IPL, surpassed the West Indian when snapped up Kolkata captain Nitish Rana.
Now he sits at the top of the list with 187 scalps to his name in the IPL.
In the post-match presentation, RR skipper Samson lauded Chahal and said: “I think it is time to give him the tag of legend. We are grateful to have him in the franchise. Never have to speak to him, give him the ball and he knows what to do. He bowls at the death as well, very pleasing for me as a captain.”
Talking about Jaiswal’s innings, Samson said, “I didn’t have to do anything today. Just put the bat on the ball and watch him play. We are used to it now, even the bowlers know how he goes in the powerplay. He enjoys batting in the powerplay.”
Samson also refused to let complacency get the better of the team after this demolishing victory.
“We have two more quarter-finals to play, the pressure is never off in the IPL. Each game, each over is important. You can sense how the atmosphere is when a legend like Jos Buttler throws his wicket away for Jaiswal. Very happy today but we have a few more matches to go,” the RR skipper said before signing off.
His counterpart, Nitish Rana, looked gutted after the loss and reasoned why bowled the first over of RR innings.
“You have to praise his innings. It was a day when he could do anything he wanted. It was a 180 wicket as I said at the toss, our batting wasn’t great and that’s the result of us dropping 2 points. He was batting well right through the tournament, so I thought a part-time spinner could perhaps make him complacent, that was the plan, but he played superbly,” Rana said.
(IPL inputs)
