Fumbling a run-out chance isn’t all that rare but making that mistake twice within seconds, in the same sequence of play, is simply unique. Rajasthan Royals (RR) were on the receiving end of such misfortune on Sunday as their skipper, Sanju Samson lacked match awareness and cost his team a sure-shot wicket.
RR received stiff competition from Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium despite setting a massive target of 215 in their league-stage encounter. The visitors were cruising well positioned at 98/1 after 11 overs but nearly triggered self-destruction with a terrible mix-up, only to be saved by an unfathomable blunder by Sanju Samson.
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Abhishek Sharma, well set on 40 off 26 deliveries, was facing Murugan Ashwin in the 12th over and struck a googly straight to point on the first delivery of the six-ball affair. However, some wishful thinking from the youngster made his charge towards the other non-striker’s crease for a non-existent single, only to be rightfully sent back to his crease by IPL veteran Rahul Tripathi on the other end.
It seemed to be too little too late as the fate of the 22-year-old’s wicket was depending on Sanju Samson as Shimron Hetmyer was pretty quick to pick-up and throw. Yet, much to the disbelief of the Caribbean player, Samson mistakenly disturbed the stumps with his big gloves even before the ball had its way to him. Even so, the wicket-keeper had a shot at redemption given one bail was still intact over the southpaw’s middle and off-stump.
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Further dismay awaited the Royals fans when Sanju Samson made another mistake by failing to catch the ball behind the stumps and dislodging the bails once again empty-handed. Shimron Hetmyer could not help but clutch his head in shock over his teammate’s antics while the stupefied skipper stood his ground staring down for a few moments, well aware of the potential consequences of his mishap.
Here is the video of the blunders from Sanju Samson:
https://twitter.com/WashingtonYdav/status/1655253571820986370?s=20
The Twitterati could not help but relish the humour in the entire saga and took to social media to express their reactions.
https://twitter.com/Himro45/status/1655253075915939842?s=20
Change your pronouns Sanju , U can't be he/him pic.twitter.com/5XfdaJMnct
— The Z God 🇫🇷👑 (@9Sxventy3) May 7, 2023
Sanju samson is very clever because he knows very well Rahul Tripathi and Abhishek play test match tonight isiliye runout nahi Kiya @SunRisers
— Chandan Jha (@i_m_Cjha) May 7, 2023
@rajasthanroyals that simple run out opportunity missed by a usually very casual Sanju Samson is another reason he should never play for team India….. absolutely unprofessional and lousy
— raj bishnoi (@rajbishnoi19) May 7, 2023
Sanju 🤣
— CAMPEONES 🇮🇳 🇪🇸 (@bettercallfoul) May 7, 2023
Come on dude Sanju Samson you are the captain of the team, how can you appeal for that run out when you didn’t even collect the ball.
— अभि 🚩🇮🇳 (@abhi_bol) May 7, 2023
Sanju Samson shat twice on that run-out chance!#RRvSRH
— Nish Navalkar (@YUVI_NISH) May 7, 2023
Why is Jos Buttler not keeping ? Sanju is a better fielder than keeper
— tastebuds (@Gregweller18) May 7, 2023
Someone should talk some sense into Sanju Samson and convince him to play for Ireland. He'll finally get to play T20 world cups and will have access to T20 leagues all over the world. Plus he can still play in IPL as an overseas player.#IPL2O23 #IPL2023 #samson
— LodekaBCCI (@LodekaBCCI) May 7, 2023
