Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson feels it is time that Yuzvendra Chahal is given the sobriquet of ‘legend’ for his prolific record in the IPL. After dismissing Nitish Rana in the first over he bowled, Chahal leapfrogged Dwayne Bravo’s tally of 183 wickets to become the most successful bowler in IPL history.
The leg-spinner returned with impressive figures of 4-25 in his quota of four overs against KKR at Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Thursday and thus played an instrumental role in restricting KKR to 149 runs. Apart from Nitish Rana, Chahal accounted for Rinku Singh, Shardul Thakur, and Venkatesh Iyer, who top-scored for KKR with 57 runs.
On the other hand, RR cruised to a total of 150 runs and won by nine wickets after Yashasvi Jaiswal scored a whirlwind knock of 98 runs whereas Sanju Samson scored 48 runs.
Sanju Samson said in the post-match presentation, “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.”
Meanwhile, Samson also showered praise on Yashasvi Jaiswal as he scored a blistering knock. Jaiswal smashed the fastest IPL fifty, getting to the personal milestone in only 13 deliveries. The left-hander was able to hit the ground running as he smashed Nitish Rana for 26 runs in the first over of the run-chase.
Samson said of Jaiswal, “I didn’t have to do anything today. Just put bat on 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.”
It was a dominating performance from Rajasthan Royals in all three departments of the game. Meanwhile, RR had veered off the track after losing three matches on the trot and it was a much-needed win. Samson wants to keep up the good show in the remaining two matches of the season in order to qualify for the playoff stages.
Rajasthan Royals will next square off against Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 60th match of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2023 at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur in a day game on Sunday.
