IPL 2021: Shashi Tharoor lauds Devdutt Padikkal and Sanju Samson for scoring centuries in the tournament

The 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has been a witness to two centuries thus far. To start with, Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) Sanju Samson racked up 119 against the Punjab Kings (PBKS) though it came in a losing cause. On the back of his knock, RR almost chased down 222 and lost by four runs at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. His knock was laced with 12 fours and seven sixes.

On Thursday, April 22, Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) Devdutt Padikkal became the second centurion of the tournament. The left-handed batsman notched his ton off 51 balls and helped his team beat the Royals by 10 wickets with 21 balls to spare in Mumbai.

In the meantime, Shashi Tharoor, the Minister of Parliament (MP) from Thiruvananthapuram lauded Padikkal and Samson for accomplishing the milestones in IPL 2021.

He took to Twitter and wrote, “How amazing that both the centuries in this year’s #IPL have been scored by Malayalis when Kerala has so long been regarded as a cricketing backwater! Congratulations @devdpd07 for joining @IamSanjuSamson as the only two to cross the hundred mark so far this year,”

Here’s the tweet

How amazing that both the centuries in this year’s #IPL have been scored by Malayalis, when Kerala has so long been regarded as a cricketing backwater! Congratulations @devdpd07 for joining @IamSanjuSamson as the only two to cross the hundred mark so far this year

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 22, 2021

After playing the match-winning knock, Padikkal was over the moon and was happy to contribute to the team’s win. The southpaw missed Virat Kohli and Co’s opening match due to coronavirus, but he has made an incredible comeback.

“It’s been special. I could only wait my turn. When I was down with COVID, all I was thinking of was to come here and play the first match here. I couldn’t do that but was keen to contribute to the team’s win. The wicket was coming on really well and we got a good start,” Padikkal said.

We need to go back and do some homework: Sanju Samson

In the meantime, Samson was disappointed following RR’s loss. The defeat took the Royals to the bottom of the points table. After the third loss on the trot, Samson talked about going back to the drawing board to make a strong comeback.

“They batted really well. We did well to get that score on the board after the early wickets. We need to go back and do some homework. We need to be honest with ourselves and come back better,” Samson said.