No plans to change: RR captain Sanju Samson says he will continue to bat the way he loves

By PTI

MUMBAI: Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson is not bothered about failures and said he would continue to play his shots and keep on batting the way he loves to in the ongoing Indian Premier League.

Samson scored a blistering ton in the first match which Royals lost narrowly to Punjab Kings but failed to come good against Delhi Capitals and against Chennai Super Kings on Monday night.

“Yeah, actually it keeps on happening in this format of the game. I think IPL definitely demands a lot of risk-taking shots. And I said before when I succeeded, I took a lot of risks. That’s why I scored a hundred. So, it depends actually on the day, the mindset you are coming with,” Samson said at the post-match press conference after RR lost to CSK by 45 runs here on Monday night.

“Actually, I don’t want to restrict my shots, I want to keep on playing my shots and keep on batting the way I love to bat actually. So, I’m also accepting a lot of failures on the way. So, I am not at all worried about getting out, but at the same time, I will definitely look to keep on contributing to my team’s victory in the coming matches.”

He said the IPL is a long tournament and it was normal to fail in a few matches.

“Pressure to perform is always there. When you play IPL, pressure is always there. Sometimes you succeed and sometimes you fail. I think IPL is a long format and you play 14 continuous matches, it is very normal to fail in a few matches.

“(But) it is always crucial to remember how good a team we are… So, we’ll keep on coming back and keep on trying to win the coming matches,” Samson said.

Samson said the chase on Monday night would have been easy if dew had come in.

“Looking at the previous matches, we played here or which we watched on the TV, I think bowling first has more advantage than bowling second.

So that’s why we opted to bowl first and actually restricting CSK around 180 was really good work by our bowlers.

“I thought if the dew comes on and the wicket eases out a bit, it would have been an easy chase for us actually,” he added.

Asked about the batting order, the RR captain backed Shivam Dube, who could not get going on Monday, for the crucial No 4 position.

“I think our batting order is very nicely set up. I think Shivam Dube is someone who is good at playing spin and pace. I think No 4 really suits him. It depends upon the condition actually.

“I think he has definitely done really well in the domestic season and I feel he is really looking good and we expect a lot of runs from him in the coming matches. David Miller is a really great finisher and one of the greatest finishers in world cricket.”