Kamal Ghorui
NEW DELHI: Playing alongside Sanju Samson for years, knowing him well, understanding his playing style, the areas he targets, along with his strengths and weaknesses, Riyan Parag had a clear plan in mind when he set the field against Samson, who is playing for CSK this season. Samson was traded from Rajasthan Royals to CSK last year.The moment Samson walked in to open alongside CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, Riyan was quick to set the field according to the plan, and it worked perfectly in Rajasthan Royals’ favour.
Riyan deployed Nandre Burger against Samson, and the South African pacer delivered for his captain.Burger fired a 140kph thunderbolt, and Samson, attempting to heave across the line, missed it completely as the ball crashed into the off-stump.Samson’s first innings in yellow ended for just 6 runs.“I feel for Sanju bhaia, it was the first three balls or first four balls that we wanted to execute something. That kind of went well, so we went ahead with it. And we were just trying to target where he plays his first three balls or where he plays his first four to five balls and then just set fielders accordingly and ask him to hit a better shot or hit a different shot, which is, again, a gamble sort of, but then that gives us a lot of percentage of favours in our way,” he told reporters after RR win.“Let’s say the shot he got out to, we would have wanted him to hit that shot instead of bowling short to him and him pulling it because he likes that. So we just try and make decisions a little uncomfortable for the bowlers, for the batsmen, sorry, and then we just try and execute.“If it comes off, looks very good. If it doesn’t come off and he gets hit for a few cuts, I’ll be sitting here sitting like a dumb duck, right? So that’s about it,” he revealed.Rajasthan Royals will now face Gujarat Titans on April 4 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
