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India's cricket legends Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri expressed their unhappiness at the tactics used by Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson, blaming the 27-year-old wicketkeeper-batter for his side's loss from a winning position against the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) on Tuesday (April 5).
Chasing 170, RCB were under pressure coming into the death overs, with a required rate of 12 runs in the last seven, and only five wickets in the bank. However, decisions made by Samson led to their ultimate loss, according to Gavaskar and Shastri.
"Sanju Samson is answerable. Questions must be asked. No fielders in the deep on the on-side will always be easy picking for someone like Dinesh Karthik," Gavaskar said on commentary when in-form Dinesh Karthik hit Prasidh Krishna's fuller length delivery to deep mid-wicket for a boundary in the penulitmate over.
However, the problems began much before that, as per India's former head coach Shastri. When a fresh Karthik entered the pitch alongside Shahbaz Ahmed in the 14th over of the match, Karthik slammed veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin for 21 runs.
"Ashwin helped (Karthik with that no ball) because you give momentum to a batter who has just come into the crease. He got a free hit. If that wasn't the case then he might have thought twice about whether to play that shot or not but once you get a free hit, you can go for the boundary hit. Then he got another one and the momentum was with him," Shastri told ESPNCricinfo.
With RR defending 61 runs, Samson decided to gamble with the inexperienced Navdeep Saini in the 15th over, instead of spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who had already picked up three crucial wickets against his former side. This decision also proved to be expensive.
“You go for 21 now what does the fielding side do at that stage. The immediate next over, you gotta go for someone who is your banker. And I thought Chahal should have bowled that over. Yeah (tactical error from Royals).
"You went to someone as inexperienced as Saini. Of the entire lot, the most inexperienced was Saini. He went for 17 and you were done and dusted. One just got the feeling that they (RR) just lost the plot. They didn't bowl to their fields. If fine leg was up, they were being hit over fine-leg, if third-man was up, the ball was squeezed through in that direction," the 59-year-old added.
Following Samson's involuntary tactical errors, Karthik led his side's onslaught, scoring 44 off 23 balls. Meanwhile, Shahbaz Ahmed top-scoring at 45 off 26 in a stunning 67-run stand that snatched the victory from under the noses of Rajasthan.
