“Well done Sardar ji”: Irfan Pathan praises Arshdeep Singh for restricting Sanju Samson in IPL 2021 clash

Irfan Pathan praises Arshdeep Singh: The former Indian all-rounder lauded the rookie pacer from Punjab Kings for his composed last over.

It took only four matches for the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League to find its first centurion in the form of Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson.

Chasing a mammoth 222-run total in his first IPL match as a captain, Samson commenced his captaincy career by leading from the front in the best way possible. Coming in to bat at No. 3 in the first over itself, Samson first hit a couple of boundaries off Punjab Kings pacer Mohammed Shami to get going.

With Jos Buttler hitting Riley Meredith for four fours in his first IPL over, Samson too hit a couple of against Arshdeep Singh in the last over of the powerplay. It was in the 11th over that Samson hit a six and a four against Meredith to complete a 33-ball half-century.

Royals, who needed 81 runs to win in the last six overs, remained in the hunt primarily due to Samson assaulting the opposition bowlers. Having reduced the equation to 40 runs off three overs, Samson hit two fours and a six against Punjab pacer Jhye Richardson as express pace didn’t seem to trouble the right-hand batsman.

Samson, who hit his seventh six off Meredith in the penultimate over, reduced the equation to 13 runs in the last over. Despite hitting all other Punjabi bowlers at will, Samson failed to attack Arshdeep Singh in the last over.

Having conceded a couple of runs in the first three deliveries, Arshdeep did conceded a six on the fourth delivery but didn’t lose his nerves in the crunch situation. With Samson refusing a single on the penultimate delivery of the match, he was dismissed after scoring 119 (63) on the last ball of the match. Arshdeep, who picked bowling figures of 4-0-33-3, was the pick of the bowlers for Punjab.

Irfan Pathan praises Arshdeep Singh for restricting Sanju Samson

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