IPL 2021: "Funny things can happen in the IPL" – RR skipper Sanju Samson after loss against RCB

Sanju Samson had a rare off day with the bat. (Photo: BCCI)

Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson remains hopeful despite his side suffering a hat-trick of losses in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021. On Wednesday, RR were outplayed by the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in Dubai.

With four wins and seven losses from 11 matches, Sanju Samson reckons that RR don’t have anything to lose and need to keep believing in their IPL playoff chances.

"We don’t have anything to lose, and that gives a lot of freedom to go out and express ourselves. Funny things can happen in IPL. We need to keep believing till the last match we play," said Sanju Samson in the post-match presentation.

RCB completed the chase of 150 with seven wickets in hand and 17 balls to spare, which further dented RR’s net run rate, which plunged to -0.468.

Having finished in eighth spot in IPL 2020 and currently in seventh spot this season, RR will hope for a better finish to the tournament.

Harshal Patel does it again, he is surely on fire.

With this, he becomes the highest wicket-taker in a season for RCB ever.

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Our middle-order needs some confidence: Sanju Samson

Sanju Samson lamented the fact that despite a good start from the RR openers, the team could only manage 149.

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RR openers Yashasvi Jaiswal (31) and Evin Lewis (58) added 77 for the first wicket off just 50 balls. They reached 100 in 11 overs before losing the plot.

"We got a really good start, our openers played very well, but we couldn’t capitalize on it. We went in with intent, the wicket was two-paced, and our batters kept mistiming it.

"Our middle-order needs some confidence; it has been a hard one week for us, we need to put up a good fight. I’m happy with the intent put in by the bowlers," Sanju Samson said on the team’s performance against RCB.

Sanju Samson had a rare off day, scoring a 15-ball 19. Mahipal Lomror, Liam Livingstone, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag and Chris Morris failed yet again in the middle-overs, contributing to yet another RR debacle.

RR’s next match is against table-toppers Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Back-to-back wins for Royal Challengers Bangalore and they are now at 14 points.

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