Sharjah: Sanju Samson, who was awarded the Man of the Match trophy against Chennai super Kings for his blistering knock of 74 runs off 32 balls, on Monday insisted that the spinner Rahul Tewatia was more deserving of the title.
His remark came after the team's 16-run win over CSK in the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium.
Samson was awarded Man of the Match for his knock of 74 runs from just 32 balls which helped Rajasthan Royals reach 216/7 in the allotted twenty overs. Skipper Steve Smith made 69 runs. The game-changing moment came in the final over of Rajasthan's innings with Jofra Archer smashing CSK's Lungi Ngidi for 30 runs.
While defending the score, Tewatia took three crucial wickets - Shane Watson, Sam Curran and Ruturaj Gaikwad. The spinner ended up with the figures of 3-37 from his four overs.
"For me, the Man of the Match should have gone to Rahul Tewatia for taking three crucial wickets, he was the game-changer according to me, it is very hard for the bowlers on this ground to bowl and especially with dew coming in," Samson told Tewatia in a video posted by IPL.
"Whatever you score at Sharjah, it is easy to chase as dew also comes in, I think I was going after every ball, if the ball was in my arc, I had to go, I had Smith batting at the other end so I had the license to keep going. I have been batting with Smith for the last four-five years, we understand each other's game really well," he added.
Talking about his bowling, Tewatia said: "When I came to bowl, it was crucial to take wickets, me and Smith were planning to take some wickets as Shane Watson was hitting some great sixes after the powerplay. We were able to take the wickets and it is a great feeling about winning our first match."
For CSK, Faf du Plessis top-scored with 72 from just 37 balls. The MS Dhoni-led side posted 200 in the end, but lost the match by 16 runs.
CSK will next take on Delhi Capitals on September 25 while Rajasthan will face Kings XI Punjab on September 27.
