Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson came out to bat with an intention to prove a point or two in Qualifier 1 of IPL 2022 vs Hardik Pandya's Gujarat Titans. After RR opener Yashasvi Jaiswal fell cheaply for 3 in just the 2nd over, Samson walked in and started dominating the game from Ball No 1. Jos Buttler struggled at the start of the innings but at the other end, Samson went on and on. 


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Soon, with the help of some 5 fours and 3 sixes, Samson reached 47 but Sai Kishore delivery outdid him and he had to go back to the dressong room, 3 short of a fifty. But by then Samson had done two jobs: one, took his team to a good position after GT opted to bowl first. Two, delivered a statement of sorts to the BCCI selectors. 


Not to forget, Samson, who has scored over 400 runs in IPL now with a strike rate of 150+, was ignored by selectors for the South Africa T20s. While out of form all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer had made the cut, Samson find it hard to find a place. When the squad was announced a few days back, Netizens were unimpressed with this decision and slammed the BCCI selectors for continuing to ignore him. 




Samson's 47 was played with some sort of intent. You could see the fire in his eyes right from the start. He started middling the ball and was enjoying the pace on the ball which helped his timing as well. Samson took full use of the good batting conditions at the Eden Gardens and smashed a brilliant 47 in no time. 


Jos Buttler bloomed late and smashed 89 off 56 balls that included 12 fours and 2 sixes. Thanks to this super knock from England wicket-keeper and bat, Rajasthan posted 188/6 on the board in 20 overs.