A still from ‘The Test’

Around halfway of the second episode of the latest season of The Test, drama erupts.

English batter Jonny Bairstow ducks a bouncer, the ball goes to the keeper and the batter walks out of the crease. Pretty much a normal thing that happens during a Test match, you’d think. But there’s tense music in the background, almost like you know something is going to happen.

And then it does. Bairstow walks out of the crease thinking the over was done, and wicketkeeper Carey has thrown at the stumps and is claiming a dismissal.

“Sort of within one ball yeah, it happened,” Alex Carey recalls in the docuseries.

The crowd at Lord’s Cricket Ground would go on to chant, “Same old Aussies, always cheating,” even as a disappointed Bairstow exits.

It’s the equivalent of an action-packed interval block in the movies, the kind that leaves you on a high as you make your way through to the bathroom, probably grinning all the way at how good it is.

The current season of The Test, a sports docuseries that follows the Australian men’s cricket team, throws up such excellent moments. Following the Bairstow runout, Alex Carey is made villain in the eyes of the English public, something that affects him mentally, which his teammate Steve Smith reveals in the documentary.

The Test almost resembles a movie made on war, because of the format’s nature to be over five days. Every day, every session has some sort of an event that makes it special, and that, at times, seeps into the next day as well, as a new battle ensues. Like the one revolving around the Aussie bowling and the English openers in Old Trafford that highlights what essentially Bazball is. For the uninitiated, Bazball refers to aggressive, ultra-positive way of playing Test cricket. It makes this format far more exciting that you’d think.

Flashbacks are seldom interesting in films, but in such sports documentaries, it provides context and adds to the drama. Like that of Travis Head, who doesn’t touch a bat for weeks due to his wedding and shows up big time at the World Test Championship against India. Or Nathan Lyon, off tour due to a calf injury – the events of him walking out to bat under such circumstances were dramatic – and watching the rest of the series with his wife in his drawing room back in Australia, while his teammates slog it out in England.

Directed by Sheldon Wynne and Adrian Brown, The Test also cleverly brings in the highs and lows of the game; case in point being how the Aussies, after being in the game in the last Ashes Test at the Oval, veered off course. Such sports documentaries can be made or broken by editing, and the fantastic editing team ensures that The Test is a good watch. It also has some neat quotes (Marnus Labuchange says, “Cricket is a game of small margins. You can feel like you’re on top and it can flip in a second”).

While Season 3 might not have the appeal of the first season of The Test, which focused on the image rebuilding exercise of the team after the ball-tampering scandal, it does have quite a few highs. One wishes that a video crew was sent to the Australian ODI World Cup campaign too, so that cricket fans got a peek into the journey of Pat Cummins’ winning team, which silenced Indian crowds in the final.

Nevertheless, this season of The Test makes for an engaging, thrilling watch, with a few lessons that could appeal to even non-cricket lovers.

The Test Season 3 is currently streaming on Prime Video

Lucknow Super Giants coach Justin Langer with captain K.L. Rahul
| Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena

Former Australian cricketer Justin Langer was enticed by the prospect of becoming India’s head coach but K.L. Rahul’s word of caution regarding the “pressure and politics” that come with the job dissuaded him from pursuing the “amazing” opportunity.

Langer, who served as Lucknow Super Giants’ head coach this IPL season, recalled a chat with franchise skipper and a senior member of the Indian team Rahul.

Never say never, but…

“You never say never. And the pressure of doing it in India… I was talking to KL (Rahul) and he said, ‘You know, if you think there’s pressure and politics in an IPL team, multiply that by a thousand… (that’s) coaching India,” said Langer.

“That was a good bit of advice, I guess. It would be an amazing job, (but) I have (put myself out of contention),” he added.

Before taking up the assignment with Super Giants this year, Langer had coached Australia from May 2018 to February 2022, helping the team navigate a difficult period in the aftermath of the infamous ball-tampering scandal.

Under Langer’s guidance, Australia lifted its first-ever T20 World Cup title and also went on to win the Ashes.

“I also know that it’s an all-encompassing role, and having done it for four years with the Australian team, honestly, it’s exhausting. And that’s the Australian job!,” the 53-year-old said.

The BCCI has invited fresh applications for the head coach position, with a deadline set for May 27 as Rahul Dravid is set to exit after the T20 World Cup.

File picture of Royal Challengers Bangalore players Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik
| Photo Credit: Sportzpics for IPL

Premier India batter Virat Kohli has paid tribute to Dinesh Karthik after his retirement at the end of RCB’s IPL campaign, describing the veteran wicketkeeper-batter as a wise and honest person who lifted his spirits during a phase of struggle in the league’s 2022 season.

The 38-year-old, who joined Royal Challengers Bengaluru from Kolkata Knight Riders in 2022 for his second stint after 2015, played his last IPL match on Wednesday when RCB were eliminated by Rajasthan Royals in the playoffs.

“Off the field, I have had some really nice and interesting conversations with him. He is a wise man, and has great knowledge about a lot of things, not just cricket,” Kohli said in a special tribute video posted by RCB.

The little over 11-minute video features tributes from Karthik’s wife, Dipika Pallikal Karthik; his personal mentor, Abhishek Nayar; RCB assistant coach, Malolan Rangarajan; and fitness coach, Shanker Basu.

Kohli recalled the 2022 season when he averaged just 22.73 scoring 341 runs from 16 matches as they missed the final bus losing to Rajasthan Royals in the second qualifier.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed my conversations with him. Even in that phase in 2022 when I did not have a great IPL season, I was really struggling for confidence,” he recalled.

“He sat me down a couple of times and just gave me a very honest explanation of how he saw things and maybe I am not able to see them myself,” Kohli added.

A veteran campaigner in the IPL, Karthik has been involved in all the editions of the league since the inaugural 2008 season and has represented six franchises, including leading KKR to the playoffs in 2018.

He ended with 4,842 runs in 257 matches with 22 fifties.

“I just like his honesty, his courage to go and speak to anyone about things that he really feels about. And that, I think, is the most special thing for me when it comes to Dinesh.

“And that’s something that I’ve always cherished about him. And that’s why we get along really, really well.”

‘A correct player’

Kohli also hailed Karthik as a technically “correct” and versatile batter.

“I always looked at Dinesh and felt like he was such a correct player technically that he could adapt to any kind of role that’s been given to him, and I remember watching him in the 2013 season where he got 600 runs or something and he batted brilliantly at three.

“I saw him play shots which were like ‘wow’. I think he’s done brilliantly to switch and become a renowned finisher.

“…I wish him all the very best for all his future endeavours moving forward.” Kohli hoped that Karthik would stay connected to the RCB franchise in some capacity.

“…because his expertise when it comes to cricket is priceless. I think he’s of great value to this franchise,” he said.

‘Hyperactive, confused person’

Recalling his first meeting with Karthik during India’s tour of South Africa in 2009, Kohli said at first, he found him to be a hyperactive and confused person moving all over the place.

“The first time I met him, I remember we were playing in South Africa if I am not wrong in the Champions Trophy 2009. It was the first time I shared the change room with Dinesh, and I found him to be very amusing, very… I would say hyperactive, confused person.

“Most of the time, he was moving all over the place, never stopping. That was my first impression of Dinesh.

“He is an outstanding talent, brilliant batter to watch and my first impression and the present-day impression are not far apart — just that he has become wiser and calmed down a lot,” Kohli added.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik hug each other after the IPL eliminator match against Rajasthan Royals in Ahmedabad.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Dinesh Karthik’s international career was a classic case of what could have been after the arrival of Mahendra Singh Dhoni but on Wednesday, when he said goodbye to the game at the end of his team’s IPL campaign, it was from a stage he made his own over the past 17 years.

The Eliminator between his Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals ended up being Karthik’s swansong, bringing down curtains on a 20-year-old career marked by a series of comebacks across formats.

Twenty six Tests, 94 ODIs and 60 T20s over two decades don’t make for eye-popping numbers but the forever fidgety 38-year-old managed to stay relevant till the very end despite spending more time in the commentary box than on the field over the past couple of years.

Ahead of the T20 World Cup squad announcement, Karthik forced himself into the selection debate for the wicket-keeper batter’s role with head-turning performances for RCB but that one final comeback wasn’t meant to be as selectors rightly went for younger talent.

While he was commentating on the India-England Test series in February-March, Karthik had made up his mind on retirement but the world only got to know when Michael Atherton let it slip in a podcast with the Tamil Nadu stumper.

Having played for as many as six teams in the IPL since the tournament’s inception in 2008, Karthik can be proud of his record in the world’s premier T20 league.

He finished as an IPL winner with close to 5000 runs over 17 seasons besides taking 145 catches and effecting 37 stumpings.

He batted at various positions all these years but his days at the RCB as a finisher over the past three seasons stood out.

In a format increasingly ruled by power-hitters, Karthik relied on his experience, game awareness and touch to find the boundaries at will.

His 330 runs at a strike rate of 183 in 2022 earned him a recall to the Indian team for the T20 World Cup but that happened to be his last time in national colours.

He scored at an even higher clip this season but despite making himself available for the upcoming World Cup, he deep down knew his comeback saga with Indian cricket had come to an end.

Karthik had his moments in stop-start India career

The Chennai-born cricketer was only 19 when he made his India debut in an ODI against England at Lord’s in September 2004.

He announced his arrival on the big stage with a spectacular stumping of opposition skipper Michael Vaughan.

Three months later, he made his Test debut against Australia but his international career could never really take off due to middling performances and rise of Dhoni.

With Dhoni a certainty in the playing eleven, Karthik was asked to open the batting on the tour of England in 2007 and he made a standout contribution in the team’s rare Test series win away from home.

Between 2010 and 2017, Karthik remained sought after in the world of IPL but his stock fell sharply in the national team.

He got back in the scheme of things following India’s loss to Pakistan in the 2017 Champions Trophy final.

Between 2017 and 2019, Karthik regularly played for India in the white-ball formats. His memorable knocks included the iconic last ball six that helped India seal the 2018 Nidahas T20 Trophy in Colombo.

Couple of months later, he made a Test comeback after eight years but that was short-lived.

Karthik was seen as a certainty for the 2019 ODI World Cup but by his own admission, he was shocked to know about his exclusion from the home series against Australia, ahead of the ICC event in England.

The selectors surprisingly brought him back for the World Cup where he only got three games, including the ill-fated semifinal against New Zealand.

The final chapter of his comeback story unfolded after a stellar IPL in 2022 but like on previous instances, Karthik could not seize the opportunity and could only manage only 14 runs in three innings at the T20 World Cup in Australia.

By his own admission, his India career could have been so much more but there was no shame in being overshadowed by someone like Dhoni.

The consistency that he lacked in international cricket was his friend in the IPL and his significant contribution was duly recognised by his RCB teammates on Wednesday night including the great Virat Kohli who was the first one to acknowledge his long career.

Karthik will be back in the commentary box soon and could be seen playing the T20 leagues outside the IPL.

Rain clouds hover around the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, during training ahead of the IPL 2024 match between Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK), in Bengaluru on May 17, 2024
| Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

Bengaluru’s weather is so notoriously fickle that its tantrums have acquired cult status. On May 18, the city faithful will be praying that it behaves, for a washout against Chennai Super Kings will send their beloved Royal Challengers Bengaluru out.

There is indeed an inglorious tradition of rain affecting at least one RCB home game in an IPL season. An unrelenting summer has ensured that RCB has dodged the bullet six times in the 2024 edition.

However, Saturday’s forecast is for good amounts of precipitation, and it seems like luck may have finally run out.

Scope for hope

There is, of course, the state-of-the-art SubAir drainage system that can get the ground ready in no time. And if the skies relent for two hours, a five-over match is eminently possible. But would five overs do justice to a clash that will be one of the last times Virat Kohli and M.S. Dhoni face-off?

Another variable is the pitch. This season, the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium has been far from the batting paradise it usually is; only twice has the 200-run mark been breached in 12 innings (RCB vs. SRH). But the last time CSK and RCB met in Bengaluru, 444 runs were scored. A repeat is in the hands of the weather gods.

It’s not for nothing that Nicholas Pooran is rated so highly in white-ball cricket. At the Wankhede Stadium against Mumbai Indians on Friday, the Caribbean power-hitter’s blitz (75, 29b, 5×4, 8×6) piloted Lucknow Super Giants to 214 for six and set up an 18-run win in its final IPL fixture of the season.

A slow start by LSG captain K.L. Rahul (55, 41b, 3×4, 3×6) allowed the home team to keep things under check until the 11th over before Pooran took charge. Walking in with his team at 69 for three, Pooran counter-attacked. He hit a couple of fours and as many sixes off Anshul Kamboj before smashing two huge sixes off MI skipper Hardik Pandya.

Pooran brought up his third half-century of the season off just 19 deliveries and forged a 109-run stand with Rahul for the fourth wicket. He was at his scintillating best in the 15th over as hit Arjun Tendulkar’s first two deliveries for sixes before the bowler walked off the field due to cramps. The left-hander then hoisted Naman Dhir into the stands before missing a maximum off the fourth by a whisker. A single and a six from Rahul completed the over.

Just when he looked on course for a hundred, Pooran was caught by Suryakumar Yadav at long-on off Nuwan Thushara. Arshad Khan was dismissed off the next ball before Piyush Chawla performed a team hat-trick, removing Rahul off the first delivery of the next over.

Ayush Badoni slammed 19 off the final over bowled by Romario Shepherd .

MI started its chase briskly before rain interrupted play for 45 minutes. With Rohit Sharma (68, 38b, 10×4, 3×6) in good nick and Dewald Brevis lending good support, the host cruised to 78 for no loss in eight overs.

Rohit hit speedsters Mohsin Khan and Naveen-ul-Haq for a flurry of boundaries while Brevis joined in with a four and six off Naveen in the ninth over. The South African’s innings ended when he was caught by Krunal Pandya.

In the next over, Krunal dismissed Suryakumar Yadav for a duck before Ravi Bishnoi ended Rohit’s stay. Though Naman Dhir (62 n.o., 28b, 4×4, 5×6) battled on, the target proved too stiff for Hardik’s men.

SCOREBOARD

LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS

K.L. Rahul c Thushara b Chawla 55 (41b, 3×4, 3×6), Devdutt Padikkal lbw b Thushara 0 (1b), Marcus Stoinis lbw b Chawla 28 (22b, 5×4), Deepak Hooda c Wadhera b Chawla 11 (9b, 1×4), Nicholas Pooran c Suryakumar b Thushara 75 (29b, 5×4, 8×6), Arshad Khan c Wadhera b Thushara 0 (1b), Ayush Badoni (not out) 22 (10b, 1×4, 2×6), Krunal Pandya (not out) 12 (7b, 1×4, 1×6); Extras (w-11): 11; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 214.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-1 (Padikkal, 0.3 overs), 2-49 (Stoinis, 5.6), 3-69 (Hooda, 9.3), 4-178 (Pooran, 16.5), 5-178 (Arshad, 16.6), 6-178 (Rahul, 17.1).

MUMBAI INDIANS BOWLING

Thushara 4-0-28-3, Arjun 2.2-0-22-0, Anshul 3-0-48-0, Chawla 4-0-29-3, Wadhera 2-0-13-0, Hardik 2-0-27-0, Naman 0.4-0-17-0, Shepherd 2-0-30-0.

MUMBAI INDIANS

Rohit Sharma (Impact Player in place of Thushara) c Mohsin b Bishnoi 68 (38b, 10×4, 3×6), Dewald Brevis c Hardik b Naveen 23 (20b, 1×4, 2×6), Suryakumar Yadav c Bishnoi b Krunal 0 (3b), Ishan Kishan b Naveen 14 (15b, 1×4), Hardik Pandya c Naveen b Mohsin 16 (13b, 1×4, 1×6), Nehal Wadhera c Krunal b Bishnoi 1 (3b), Naman Dhir (not out) 62 (28b, 4×4, 5×6), Romario Shepherd (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (nb-1, w-10): 11; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 196.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-88 (Brevis, 8.4), 2-89 (Suryakumar, 9.2), 3-97 (Rohit, 10.5), 4-116 (Hardik, 13.3), 5-120 (Wadhera, 14.2), 6-188 (Kishan, 19.3).

SUPER GIANTS BOWLING

Arshad 2-0-11-0, Henry 2-0-24-0, Krunal 4-0-29-1, Mohsin 4-0-45-1, Naveen (Impact Player in place of Badoni) 4-0-50-2, Bishnoi 4-0-37-2.

Toss: MI; PoM: Pooran.

LSG won by 18 runs.

Lance Klusener responded to the Goenka-Rahul video, saying he did not see “any problem with some robust discussion between two cricket lovers”
| Photo Credit: JioCinema screengrab

Lucknow Super Giants assistant coach Lance Klusener on Monday played down team owner Sanjiv Goenka’s public outburst on their skipper K.L. Rahul, terming it “storm in a tea cup” and said he didn’t find any issue in a “robust discussion between two cricket lovers”.

Social media has been abuzz after Goenka was seen having an animated chat, purportedly reprimanding Rahul after LSG’s record demolition at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad, last Wednesday.

There have been speculations about Rahul’s future as LSG skipper also, but Klusener said there has been “certainly no discussions around” the matter.

“I don’t see any problem with some robust discussion between two cricket lovers. So for us, I guess it’s just a storm in a teacup. We love a robust discussion. I think that’s how teams get better. So, it’s not a big thing for us,” the South African said during the pre-match press conference.

“This IPL has been tough for Rahul”

Opening the batting, Rahul has scored 460 runs but his strike-rate reads 136.09, and it has put pressure on the LSG middle-order comprising Marcus Stoinis and Nicholas Pooran.

Klusener, however, backed the senior batter.

“KL has got his own unique style which has made him a fantastic player and respected around the world. I think this IPL has been exceptionally tough for him because we’ve kept losing wickets at stages which hasn’t allowed him to kick on where he likes. He probably feels like he’s always having to rebuild.

“I think as a batting unit around KL, we haven’t been as good as we should. It’s just been extremely tough conditions for him. That’s something we’ve chatted about as well — we’ve just kept losing wickets at tough times.”

However, Klusener said a big knock from Rahul was just around the corner.

“Then batters coming in, seem to have to be rebuilding the whole time and not just coming into a platform. So, I think by KL’s standards, he probably would have liked to have kicked on in a few more games.

“Probably (he) would have liked to have at least one or two hundreds that haven’t worked out for him. But there’s still a couple of games left. He’s in a good space. So, we’ve got our fingers crossed again for him,” he said.

LSG bowling unit was at the receiving end of a brutal onslaught from SRH openers Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, who racked up a record 167 in 9.4 overs.

“By the bowling unit’s high standards, they didn’t execute as well as they would have liked to on that surface and then you mix in two players who played absolutely beautifully and quite often that ends in a poor result for the team that doesn’t bring their best skills,” Klusener said.

“It was just a mix of some exceptionally hard batting and I don’t think we executed our skills as well as we should have and you mix that together, it doesn’t normally end well.”

LSG are currently at the seventh spot with 12 points, making the remaining two games a must-win contest to keep their slim playoff hopes alive.

“I think we’ve been just a little bit inconsistent by our own high standards. We just need to deal with the fact of where we are now and make sure that we become consistent.

“As a team, we want to win the IPL, we probably need to win five in a row, which I think RCB has just done five in a row.

“So that’s just proved that for us it’s absolutely possible, but that’s just the big picture. We need to get over the line tomorrow before we can have any other aspirations.”

Cameron Green lauded star batter Virat Kohli for playing a “vintage” innings to keep RCB in the race. File
| Photo Credit: AP

Cameron Green lauded star batter Virat Kohli for playing a “vintage” innings to keep Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the race to the IPL playoffs.

Kohli made full use of the three reprieves, including one on zero, to make a 47-ball 92 that set the tone for their 60-run win over Punjab Kings in a must-win match here on May 9.

“He played the vintage Virat that we all know. It was a beautiful watch from the other end. That’s the beauty of having Virat in your team, as opposition you can’t give him that many chances,” said Green in the post-match press meet.

The Australian all-rounder, who helped himself to a 27-ball 46, said Kohli was trying to be aggressive and the drops did not affect him.

“He’s always going to make you hurt, especially if you drop him three or four times. Early in his innings, he was trying to be really aggressive. I think he looked like after a couple of dropped catches, he didn’t have much to lose,” added Green.

The Bengaluru side still need to win their remaining two matches against Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings at home to remain in the mix for playoffs.

Green said the team has done well to win four matches on the bounce after a string of defeats.

“Yeah, I think what we’ve done really well is just look at the next game. I think obviously at the start of the tournament you can always look further at what’s coming up, where are we on the table.”

“But I think that’s the beauty of where we were at (now), we kind of were pushed into a corner and all we could really do was focus on the next game,” he added

Meanwhile, Punjab Kings assistant coach Brad Haddin blamed the dropped catches for his side’s defeat.

The Kings let-off Kohli and Green more than once and they bruised them with quickfire knocks as RCB posted a tall 241 for seven.

In reply, PBKS could only manage 181 before getting bundled out.

“100 percent we lost the match because of dropped catches. If we look through the game, we dropped two guys on a duck, and both of them scored big runs. That was where the game was lost.

“There was not too much difference in the batting and bowling of both teams. The catches we put down cost us the game,” said Haddin.

File picture of Kolkata Knight Riders players Sunil Narine and Andre Russell during a practice session ahead of an Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 cricket match
| Photo Credit: K.R. DEEPAK

Kolkata Knight Riders will look to extend its recent run of success when it returns home after securing two emphatic away wins.

KKR hosts Mumbai Indians at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on May 11. The faceoff against MI assumes more significance as a victory will ensure a play-off spot for the Knight Riders.

The spate of success, highlighted by the fact that the team has won four of its last five outings, puts KKR on top of the league table with 16 points from 11 matches. This also makes it the favourite against the struggling MI, currently lying in the eighth spot (with eight points from 12 matches). MI is out of the race for a spot in the playoffs.

The opening partnership of Sunil Narine and Phil Salt has been a crucial factor in KKR’s consistent performance. Narine’s belligerence with the bat has been a key element in KKR amassing 200-plus totals in six of the eight innings where it has batted first.

Narine, who has scored 461 runs with a strike rate of 183.67, is in exceptional form that has propelled him as the team’s most successful all-rounder. As a bowler, which is his primary vocation, Narine has been outstanding with an economy rate of 6.61.

Salt, having scored 429 runs with a strike rate of 183.33, has proved to be the right companion for Narine. KKR, which beat MI by 24 runs at the Wankhede Stadium, will be banking on its key players to come good again.

Teams

Kolkata Knight Riders: Shreyas Iyer (c), KS Bharat (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Rinku Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Sherfane Rutherford, Manish Pandey, Andre Russell, Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Ramandeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Vaibhav Arora, Chetan Sakariya, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma, Mitchell Starc, Dushmantha Chameera, Sakib Hussain, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Gus Atkinson, Allah Ghazanfar and Phil Salt.

Mumbai Indians: Hardik Pandya (c), Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav, Dewald Brevis, Jasprit Bumrah, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Tim David, Shreyas Gopal, Ishan Kishan (wk), Anshul Kamboj, Kumar Kartikeya, Akash Madhwal, Kwena Maphaka, Mohammad Nabi, Shams Mulani, Naman Dhir, Shivalik Sharma, Romario Shepherd, Arjun Tendulkar, Nuwan Thushara, Tilak Varma, Harvik Desai (wk), Nehal Wadhera and Luke Wood.

Match starts: 7.30 p.m. on May 11, 2024

Rajasthan Royals batter Sanju Samson plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Delhi Capitals and Rajasthan Royals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi on May 7, 2024.
| Photo Credit: SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Former Australian opener Mathew Hayden is mighty impressed with the IPL performance of Sanju Samson and has lauded the T20 World Cup-bound power-hitter for “handling both spin and pace with finesse”.

Samson was in his elements on Tuesday when he nearly guided Rajasthan Royals to a win over Delhi Capitals with his 86-run knock. The visitors eventually fell short by 20 runs. He is currently third on the top-scorers chart with 471 runs in 11 matches so far.

“Sanju Samson was batting like a dream, scoring 86 off 46 balls. He’s proven his worth time and again…Throughout the tournament, he’s been a master blaster, handling both spin and pace with finesse,” Hayden told Star Sports.

“He times his innings well. He’s got the power. And the power is a big thing in T20 cricket. Yet, what stands out is his commitment to his team. He just needed a bit of luck, especially towards the end of the match,” he added.

Samson, who is the captain of Rajasthan Royals, has taken the second wicketkeeper’s slot in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup starting June 1 in the Americas.

Former India cricketer Varun Aaron also praised his performance.

“I think Sanju Samson has been batting really well. Bowlers are keen on dismissing him, evident from their reluctance to bowl bouncers despite being allowed two per over in this IPL.

“Interestingly, the over he got out, Khaleel Ahmed bowled the first bouncer to him in the match. This seemed to disrupt his footwork, as the subsequent wide slow ball, which he typically dispatches for six over covers, resulted in his dismissal,” he said.