3 mistakes made by captain Sanju Samson in IPL 2023

The Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals were feeling jubilant – they believed they had defended 214 runs. But then the siren blew, Sandeep Sharma had overstepped, the smiles gave way to scorn.

SunRisers Hyderabad now needed four runs off the final ball. Abdul Samad shuffled outside the off stump and smacked a full ball from Sandeep over long-off to seal the win. Samson did not know what hit him as he looked around without any possible answers.

It has been a mixed bag for both Sanju Samson and the Rajasthan Royals. After flying high in the initial few matches, they have got into a rut, losing five out of their last six matches.

Sanju has made some baffling decisions as a captain and the side now needs to go back to the drawing board and examine their decisions. We take a look at three captaincy mistakes made by Sanju Samson so far in the IPL:

#3 Bewildering use of spinners

Sanju Samson has not been consistent while using spinners

In the match against the Chennai Super Kings, Sanju Samson had more than five bowlers at his disposal. Rajasthan had set a target of 203 runs for CSK and managed to secure a 32-run win. However, Sanju was quite baffling as far as his decisions were concerned.

Jason Holder was expensive but Samson continued to bowl him and the West Indian completed his quota of four overs. Adam Zampa, on the other hand, bowled only three overs despite registering figures of 3/22 in his three overs. He got the wickets of Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Moeen Ali.

Holder, on the other hand, gave away 49 runs in his four overs.

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#2 Not using impact player

RR have not used impact player sensibly

Rajasthan Royals have been the most hesitant team when it comes to using an impact player. And when they have actually opted for one, the thinking has been muddled.

For instance, when they were in trouble against the Gujarat Titans, they used Riyan Parag as an impact player. This move did not make any sense considering they had the likes of Dhruv Jurel and Shimron Hetmyer waiting in the wings.

They have also not used Joe Root even when the top order struggled in games and have seldom utilized the likes of Obed McCoy as a death bowler.

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#1 Troubles at the death

Sanju Samson has not had control in the death overs

Sanju Samson has not been able to get the best out of his bowlers in the death overs. In the match against the Mumbai Indians, he brought on Kuldeep Sen as an impact player.

The pacer conceded 20 runs in the only over he bowled and he was not used again. Chahal bowled three overs and Jason Holder was asked to bowl the final over where he conceded three sixes on the bounce to concede the match.

The story was fairly similar in the match against the SunRisers Hyderabad. Obed McCoy was brought on as a death bowler primarily to address their issues in the death overs.

However, McCoy bowled just the one over and Samson preferred the inexperienced Kuldip Yadav in the 19th over ahead of McCoy. Yadav conceded three sixes and a four as SRH gained momentum and went on to win the match.