Rishabh Pant: It will help our fast bowlers and spinners to bowl first. Told the players that we should not focus on the outside noise and focus on our inner selves. Same XI. Anything near 150-160 will be good.
Sanju Samson: “I don’t mind, was ready for both. Toss is not in my hand, actually getting out of my hand. Both batters and bowlers have to be ready for both situations and we are happy to do it. We are playing a great standard of cricket. All about carrying the momentum. And then move on. No changes.”
Indian Premier League 2022 Points Table
Prithvi Shaw: Everything is ok in the camp. Obviously hectic things are going on in the hotel. Ricky is not coming, but he did message all of us on how to approach. He is the boss of the team. If the boss isn’t here… but still Watson sir, Ajit Sir, Pravin Sir, Hopesy are here. They have a lot of international games under them. Always a pleasure to play.”
Indian Premier League 2022 Fixture
Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Capitals Highlights today, Friday 22-4-2022. 34th Match (N), Tata Indian Premier League from Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Pant won the toss, chose to bowl first.
Rajasthan Royals team: 1 Jos Buttler, 2 Devdutt Padikkal, 3 Sanju Samson (capt & wk), 4 Shimron Hetmyer, 5 Karun Nair, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Trent Boult, 9 Obed McCoy, 10 Prasidh Krishna, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal.
Delhi Capitals team: 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 David Warner, 3 Sarfaraz Khan, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk), 5 Lalit Yadav, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Mustafizur Rahman, 11 Khaleel Ahmed.
Indian Premier League 2022 Teams
Rishabh Pant: “I think they were bowling well throughout the game but in the end, Powell gave us a chance. I thought the no-ball could have been precious for us. I thought we could have checked that no-ball, but it’s not in my control. Yes, disappointed, but can’t do much about it. Everyone was frustrated because it was not even close, so I thought it was only a no-ball. Everyone on the ground saw that. I think the third umpire should have intervened in between and said it was a no-ball, but I can’t change the rule myself I guess.
[When asked if it was okay to send a team management member onto the field to argue the lack of a no-ball call] Obviously it wasn’t right, but what happened with us was also not right. It was just the heat of the moment, can’t do much about it. I think it was the fault of both of the sides, not even only for us because throughout the tournament we have seen some good umpiring. I thought we could have done pretty well from there I guess. It hurts more when you go so close, especially to a match when the other team has scored 220 runs, but I feel we could have bowled a little better. It’s part and parcel of the game. I can only tell them to have their chin up and prepare for the next one right now.”
Head to head
Total matches played: 24
RR Won: 12
DC Won: 12
R Ashwin: “The last over was topsy-turvy. I was just keeping my fingers crossed. Devdutt was standing at point and asking me, ‘It’s not happening right?’ and I said, ‘No, I hope it’s not happening.’ I think that break when the [Capitals] coach came in and the whole thing happened, I think that sort of settled our nerves. It’s never easy to bowl the last over. I thought Obed did a fantastic job. He’s a young guy. Even though he looks big, he’s a very very young guy and I thought he held his nerve wonderfully. It was a good comeback, the last three balls. We keep working on the analysis, but I thought the fourth, fifth, and sixth balls were fantastic. We were sitting up there and talked about what kind of a score would be good enough to defend and we never thought 200 would be safe.
We always thought 210-220, because when an over is expensive, it goes for 20-25. Even if you pull it back, it just keeps going. The ground is small and it’s a quality pitch. No total is really safe. [On Chahal] Understanding roles and game situations are very important. It’s about understanding the scoreboard and the batsman. In Yuzi, I’ve found a partner who understands the batter and understands the game really well. We keep the conversation going with Sanju and it’s something we’re enjoying and I keep my fingers crossed that it goes really well. Thankfully the last two or three games, the dew hasn’t really been a major factor. Whatever the ground staff is doing, I request them to keep doing.”
Match Timings: 14:00 GMT | 19:30 Local
Umpires – Nikhil Patwardhan, Nitin Menon
TV Umpires – Yeshwant Barde
Match Referee – Daniel Manohar
Reserve Umpire – Sadashiv Iyer
Match number – Tata IPL 2022 – Seasone 15, 34th Match
Sanju Samson:
“It went for a six, it was a full toss and the umpire gave it a normal ball. But the batsman wanted it as a no-ball. I think the umpire made his decision very clear and sticked to it. I think we wanted to be around [McCoy]. It’s not an easy thing for a bowler to be hit for three sixes defending 36. We wanted to take some time, and put a smile back on his face. It was very tough to do that but we wanted to give him a breather and tell him we are just changing the plans. I think we wanted to go wide yorker at that time and he was feeling very confident. I felt it was a good plan to just concede a four and then come back to the bigger side of the boundary, we wanted to bowl slower balls and that really worked.
I think it’s really great performance. The last game was also tough, really challenging one. Having someone like Powell at the end challenging you with so much power, I think in this game and venue and wicket, you know that any target is chaseable. So it’s very important to be calm and know how to use your bowlers, stay calm, trust your teammates and trust your team. Have confidence in yourself and back yourself. [On the spinners] I think bowlers are experienced enough to bowl in these kinds of conditions. Having the experience of R Ashwin and Yuzi Chahal in the middle overs is really going well and we’d like to continue it.”
Player of the Match is Jos Buttler:
“Really special, I really enjoyed it. I think especially being here at the Wankhede, I love this stadium. My first IPL was here with Mumbai Indians. It’s a fantastic atmosphere and I really loved it. I’m really enjoying some of the best form of my life and trying to work out why bottle it up, and continue that form. I love the team, we’ve got an incredibly strong side. It’s great to be at the top at the halfway stage of the tournament and we need to continue that form all the way through. The ball swung in the first over.
I found that really tricky and didn’t feel in good touch at that point. You just try to soak up that pressure and try and come through it, keep believing that one ball will set you on your way and can get going. Once I got to that point, the confidence came back. We managed to build a good partnership. Devdutt played fantastically well at the other end. Being no wickets down with eight overs gone, it felt like the right time to attack and put the pressure back on Delhi.”
