‘We play the ball, not the man!’ – Kumar Sangakkara extols Sanju Samson following impressive knock against Gujarat Titans

Rajasthan Royals (RR) head coach Kumar Sangakkara heaped massive praise on skipper Sanju Samson after his impressive batting display against Gujarat Titans. Notably, Samson’s Royals edged past the defending champions by three wickets on Sunday, April 16, to earn their third consecutive win in the IPL 2023 season.

After setting a competitive first innings score of 177 runs, Hardik Pandya and Co. got the early breakthroughs to keep their side in the driver’s seat. However, it was skipper Samson, who shifted gears and targeted the rival bowling unit to keep the required run rate in check. 

At a certain point Samson hammered spin sensation Rashid Khan for three back-to-back sixes and notched up his half-century off 29 balls. In doing so, head coach Kumar Sangakkara lavished massive praise on the skipper deeming it as the 'game-changing moment' and shared his golden words for batting against top-draw cricketers.

Rajasthan Royals@rajasthanroyals

Play the ball, not the man! 💪

01:55 AM · Apr 17, 2023

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“Skipper, not just you got us through the powerplay, but that Rashid Khan over and then how you kicked in from there, that was the game changer. Their best bowler, some say the best T20 spinner in the world, was completely caught off guard,” addressed Sangakkara in the dressing room.

“It just goes to show that when you are in the game, anything is possible. Whether it is Rashid Khan, Shane Warne or Muttiah Muralitharan, it doesn’t matter when we’re in the game. We play the ball, not the man,” he added.

Shimron Hetmyer’s blitzkrieg earns RR their fourth win 

Following the sensational innings displayed by the skipper, the Royals were injected with the required big runs by explosive hitter, Shimron Hetmyer. Down the order, Hetmyer clobbered an unconquered 26-ball 56, which saw his side through to the finish line.

The southpaw wasted no time and swiftly hit the ground running during the chase and hammered five maximums and two fours in his explosive knock. In doing so, the Royals earned their fourth win of the season in five outings and stand atop the points table with eight points and a healthy Net Run Rate (NRR) of 1.354.