IPL 2023: 'They were late...': Former SA skipper left 'SURPRISED' by Sanju Samson's tactics against Gujarat

Former South Africa skipper Shaun Pollock wasn't impressed with Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson's tactics against Gujarat Giants. Notably, Royals lost the match against Gujarat by nine wickets at their own home ground in Jaipur.

Speaking on Cricbuzz, Pollock said, "I was a little bit surprised by some of the tactics employed there. After 1-2 overs, you realized that it wasn't really swinging. So, they were late to get to the spinners to look if maybe if they could have had an impact, was a little bit of a surprise."

Batting first after winning the toss, Royals had a horrible start with Butler getting out as the first wicket. Jaiswal was then sold by his skipper Sanju Samson for the second wicket. Royals then could never come out the hole they had dug themselves with Gujarat's Afghan duo of Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed choking them to death.

The spin duo bowled a total of seven overs between them and took five wickets for 39 runs with Rashid winning Player of the Match award for his 3/14 in four overs. Samson was the highest run-scorer for Rajasthan, scoring 30 off 20 balls.

Chasing a paltry total of 118, Gujarat hardly broke a sweat as the openers themselves wiped most of the runs - 71 to be precise before Shubman Gill fell for 36. Skipper Hardik Pandya then smashed Adam Zampa for three sixes and a four in the 11th over to kill of the chase.

Gujarat eventually got to the target in 13.5 overs with Wriddiman Saha being not out on 41 off 34 and Pandya smashing unbeaten 39 off just 15 balls.

Disappointed by loss, Royals coach Kumar Sangakkara, speaking to the media after the loss, said a performance like this is embarrassing for everyone in the camp. He added other than being poor across all sectors, RR batters didn’t show any intent against the Afghanistan pair of Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad, who picked five wickets between them.

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