The Rajasthan Royals were not in the top four betting favorites to win the 2020 IPL but they are certainly now on the radar of IPL bettors. The Royals have won their first two games in impressive fashion thanks to some fantastic batting by Sanju Samson who won the man of the match awards in both games.
Will Samson Win The Orange Cap?
The orange cap is given to the batsmen who has the most number of runs in the tournament. IPL bettors put down money at the start of the tournament on players who they thought would finish with the most number of runs in the tournament. The top players in this betting category features the likes of David Warner, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Aaron Finch.
Sanju Samson was definitely not one of the players in the reckoning. However, the Kerala wicket-keeper batsman has scored 159 runs in just 2 innings and is in fine form. He batted at 3 in the first game against Chennai Super Kings and scored 74 of just 32 balls. He came in at 3 again in the second game against Kings XI Punjab and scored 85 of 42 balls.
With fantastic performances at number 3, expect the Royals to continue to use Samson at 3 for the remainder of the tournament. Batting higher up the order, will give Samson more opportunities to bat freely and score a pile of runs, making him a serious contender for top batsmen at the 2020 IPL. If you are a betting man, you might want to put some money on Sanju Samson.
Samson Pushing For A Place In Playing XI
With MS Dhoni announcing his retirement before the start of the 2020 IPL, it became clear that the selectors were going to keep a close watch on R Pant and Sanju Samson to take the gloves from Dhoni.
Pant who is playing for the Delhi Capitals scored 31 of 29 balls in the first game against Kings XI Punjab, an unbeaten 37 from 25 balls in the second game against Chennai Super Kings and 28 from 27 against the Sunrisers Hyderabad in the third game.
Samson has clearly outdone Pant so far and will be eager to continue to put together a string of good performances and push for a place in all three formats of the game. India are currently using KL Rahul as a wicket-keeper batsman in the T20 and ODI format but KL Rahul is a not a natural wicket-keeper.
Samson is a keeper who is also a talented batsman and there are already calls for him to be a permanent fixture in the playing XI. MP Shashi Tharoor has labelled Samson the next MS Dhoni but former cricketers like Gautam Gambhir and S Sreesanth were quick to correct Mr. Tharoor and say that Sanju Samson needs to be Sanju Samson and not try to fill MS Dhoni’s shoes.
Samson Showing Good Temperament
While Samson has been a class act with the bat, his temperament has also clearly improved. He said that he would never try to play like MS Dhoni because no one can play like Dhoni and labelled the former Indian captain as a legend of the game.
Samson credits a lot of his success to a chat that he had with Virat Kohli who helped him make a stronger commitment to the game. Kohli told Samson that he should cut out every distraction and focus on his health, fitness and practice for the next 10 years as this was the period when he could represent India and shine for his country.
If Samson finishes as the top run scorer in the 2020 IPL, it will be very difficult for the selectors to deny him a place in the playing XI.
