After succumbing to their fourth consecutive defeat of IPL 2024, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson admitted that his team is “going through failures” that need to be rectified at the earliest.
“To be honest, we have to sit back and accept that we’re going through some failures,” Samson said. “When you lose four in a row, you have to find out what’s not working well in the team. When you are getting to the business end of the season, you need someone to raise their finger up and say, ‘I am going to win the game for the team’.
“Yes, this is a team sport, but we have a lot of matchwinners in the side, and we need individuals to step up. So it’s about having the right characters who can play with passion, and singlehandedly win the game for us. If all of us try that, and even a couple [of players] manage to step up, it would make a difference. We need those characters who can carry us.”
Royals, after wining the toss, opted to bat on a Guwahati wicket that “wasn’t very high-scoring”. The team could only muster 144 for 9, which Samson admitted was at least 20-30 runs fewer than he’d have liked on the board.
“We were expecting a better wicket, if I’m being honest. I don’t think it’s a 140 wicket, but maybe 160 or 170 with the power and batting we have.
“We knew this kind of wicket wouldn’t be a high-scoring one. We thought 160-170 would be a good target to set, and wanted to get a partnership going. We’re not used to playing in these kind of wickets in this season when teams have been scoring 200 or 220. We had to play smart cricket and focus on the basics and build momentum, trying to get boundaries here and there.”
The latest setback means that Royals, while already through to the playoffs, are yet to confirm a top-two spot. They will remain in Guwahati to play their final league match of the season against the toppers Kolkata Knight Riders, on Sunday.
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