Sunrisers rise after their sunset in this IPL and a Royal show from Sanju Samson in vain again

 By K.R. Nayar

After Sunrisers Hyderabad crashed out of the race for the play off, they produced a good show against Rajasthan Royals. Their approach of ‘nothing to lose and everything to gain’ spoiled Rajasthan’s hopes of a victory. Meanwhile, Sanju Samson has been waging a lone battle for Rajasthan often scoring half his team’s total. His knocks are now referred as the ‘Sanju Show.’

When Kane Williamson was in full flow. Photo: SRH Twitter 

Strange things keep happening in the Indian Premier League. It is these unexpected turn around what makes IPL one of the exciting franchise leagues in the world. 

He Kane do it

Let’s have a look at what happened at the Dubai International Stadium on Monday (September 28, 2021). Sunrisers Hyderabad, a team that failed to rise to their potential, rose to the challenge from Rajasthan Royals to pull off a seven-wicket victory. They played the match with nothing to lose and everything to gain and earned more than what they expected.  They took a heart-breaking decision of dropping their star batsman David Warner, who in this edition, was not his usual self. They introduced England’s Jason Roy in his place and he gave them his team a ray of hope through a brilliant 60. His skipper Kane Williamson, who his team believes “He Kane do it” did it through an unbeaten 51. 

What's behind 'Mighty' Sanju? 

Whenever Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has displayed his attacking batting, it has been a treat to watch. A fan from Kerala at the Dubai International stadium on Monday (September 28, 2021), during his knock of 82 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, asked: “Where does Sanju get such strength to hit the ball? Isn’t he the hardest hitting batsman in Indian cricket today?” These two questions are worth examining. His batting display is now admiringly addressed as the ‘Sanju Show’. Once when Sanju hit a powerful shot, the giant score board said ‘Handsome from Samson.’ 

The Sanju show continues. Photo RR Twitter 

Sailing past IPL landmarks 

During one of my earlier interactions with Sanju, I had asked him about his strength, and he had a very simple answer. “My father is a well-built man…so the power behind my shorts come from his genes. His father, Viswanath, was a police constable with the Delhi Police and a football player who represented Delhi in the prestigious Santosh Trophy football tournament. The shots he plays are hit hard but what has been remarkable this season is that he has been scoring half his team’s total. All three of his finest knocks this season -  119 against Punjab Kings, 82 versus Sunrisers Hyderabad and his unbeaten 70 against Delhi Capitals- were all scored when his team lost. During his 82, Sanju went past the 400 run mark in the IPL this season and also 3000 runs in the IPL. If that was not enough, when Hyderabd batted, he recorded his 50^th catch as a wicketkeeper in the IPL.