'Nothing to do with ego' - Sanju Samson on refusing single to Chris Morris in RR vs PBKS clash

Sanju Samson’s refusal to take a single with Chris Morris at the other end was one of the most talked-about events in the first week of the IPL 2021. During a run chase of 222 runs, the match went down to the wire with Royals needing five runs to win from two balls. Samson, who was batting on 119 refused to take a single but failed to hit the last ball for six, as the Royals lost that match by four runs. 

Finally, after they won their second match against Delhi Capitals and Samson recorded his first win as a captain in the IPL, he decided to break his silence on that matter. Interestingly, Morris who was not trusted to finish the job by his captain in the first match, guided the run chase in the second match, causing a miraculous turnaround for his team. 

He smashed four sixes in the last two overs, to help Royals to an unlikely win. After the win, Sanju Samson explained his thoughts on the refusal of a single incident in his Hindustan Times Column. The player from Kerala said that there have been many instances when a striker has denied a single to the non-strikers in the death overs and there will be many more such instances in the future. He also wrote that it has nothing to do with the ego. 

Sanju Samson explains what he thought during the crunch moment

“…my final thought on the denied single is this: the game is evolving and very soon in the future, you won’t be seeing singles being attempted at that stage. If a batsman fancies a particular bowler, he should farm the strike and go for it. It has absolutely nothing to do with ego; just the simple demands of the moment and the team. Winning is everything,” wrote Sanju Samson.

The Rajasthan Royals skipper further said that he stood and took the strike as he was timing the ball well that night. He revealed that he felt that Morris who had just come into bat, might find it difficult to hit the ball past the boundary. 

Samson wrote, “This was clear to Morris, me, and the team management. Therefore, no, I did not have to go to him after the game and explain myself for not taking the single off the penultimate ball – it was absolutely clear to both of us. He was finding it a bit tough to strike the ball against Punjab.”

Watch Ben McDermott’s Rapid Fire –