'Knowing that this is one of Dinesh Karthik's...' - Sunil Gavaskar questions Sanju Samson after RR-RCB tie

Match 13 of the IPL 2022 edition saw the one-time winners and table-toppers Rajasthan Royals (RR) lock horns with Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Tuesday (April 5). In a game that went down to the wire, Sanju Samson-led RR franchise lost their first game of the 15th season, to lose by four wickets in defence of 170.

Riding on in-form opener Jos Buttler's 47-ball 70* and Shimron Hetmyer's unbeaten 42, RR posted a competitive 169-3 after being asked to bat first. In reply, RCB were on the mat, at 87 for 5, before Dinesh Karthik's 23-ball 44 not out and Shahbaz Ahmed's 45 took the Bengaluru franchise home in a crunch encounter.

ALSO READ |Yuvraj is not one of those, Dhoni is: Paddy Upton feels ex-India captain a 'massive high-pressure' player

Reflecting on the match, former Indian opener Sunil Gavaskar questioned RR skipper Samson's tactics for his field placements for in-form finisher DK. "You have to ask questions of Sanju Samson. He's just brought that man in, the man who was there at deep mid-wicket. Knowing that this is one of Dinesh Karthik's strengths, going across outside the off-stump and playing the ball in," Gavaskar told Star Sports.

"Okay, not sweetly on the middle of the bat. But still, if you swung the bat hard enough, even if you get an inside edge, it's gonna race away to the boundary. That is not good captaincy. If you don't have fielders protecting you over there and you bowl this delivery on the middle and leg, a slower delivery halfway down the pitch, to such an experienced, such an innovative batsman like Dinesh Karthik, it's going to go," he opined.

ALSO READ |From Buttler's special ton to DK-Shahbaz Ahmed's fireworks: How RCB ended RR's unbeaten run

"As a bowling unit you like to take your time and set your fields. Lot of positives to take, and we can learn a lot of things, too. We would like to take our time as a bowling unit. But there was nothing, no confusion on the field, I can say that," added Gavaskar.

Many former cricketers and experts of the game also slammed Samson for not wisely rotating his bowlers and bringing back Yuzvendra Chahal (who returned with 2 for 15) early during the DK-Shahbaz match-winning 67-run sixth-wicket stand.

Despite the defeat, RR remain atop in the points table.