IPL 2018 | New game, new strategy: Sanju Samson

Eyeing third consecutive win this season against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at SMS Stadium on Wednesday, Rajasthan Royals’ star performer Sanju Samson says that the team will be starting from clean slate given it’s a new game. “Last match is a history now. It was different ground, different team. Condition will change so our game plan will also change accordingly. It’s a fresh match, so we will be starting from zero,” Samson said. But it is the enthusiasm and energy that the Royals displayed in the their last game that they would like to carry forward.

Holder of the Orange Cap, Samson, is attracting a lot of praise from the cricketing fraternity, but instead of getting carried away, he is glad that things are falling in place for him. “I had a good domestic season and I am also hitting the ball well here in IPL,” he said. Royals will be eyeing 10th consecutive win at their home ground in Jaipur on Wednesday against KKR.

FALLING ‘SHORT’

The biggest concern for Royals is the form of BBL star D’Arcy Short. He came with a lot of promise and given his exploits in the Australian league there was much hype surrounding him. But, he has failed to live up to the expectation. In the first two games he was run-out and in the last game against RCB he was seen struggling against spin and eventually scummed to Yuzvendra Chahal’s delivery at 3. A compulsive user of horses for courses strategy, Royals this season has so far played the same team in all the three games. It would be interesting to see for how long they will make Heinrich Klaasen warm the bench, given that he was bought keeping in mind his ability to play spin.