After losing to Gujarat Titans by 37 runs in the IPL match in Navi Mumbai on Thursday, Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson was all praise for rival skipper Hardik Pandya, who scored a brilliant unbeaten 87.
Hardik's unbeaten half-century was backed by a spirited performance by his bowlers as Gujarat Titans defeated Rajasthan Royals to go atop the IPL points table.
Rajasthan Royals suffered their second defeat and dropped to third in the ten-team league table.
"You can say that (if Gujarat got 10-15 extra runs). But I would like to give credit to their batters.
"Hardik played a very good innings; they played really well to get that score. If we had wickets in hand this was chase-able, I feel.
"He (Hardik) had a really good day today; batted, bowled and fielded well."
"We were almost there in terms of run rate. In the powerplay we had a better run-rate actually, but we kept losing wickets," said Samson, at the post-match presentation.
Asked about Trent Boult's absence, he replied: "Freaky niggle last night in training, definitely missed him (Boult). Hopefully he will be back soon.”
Speaking about the team combination, he said: "I have played enough number of years in this league to understand that each game is crucial. Very important to learn and comeback stronger in the next game. I was doing No. 3 continuously till last season. So we decided to have that flexibility, come down at No. 4 or 5 or wherever the team needs me.
"Having someone like (Ravichandran) Ashwin allows us to do that. Devdutt Padikkal batted (at) 3 in the first three games. So it all depends on the combination we are playing."
Opener Jos Buttler's quick knock of 54 went in vain for Rajasthan Royals while Lockie Ferguson and debutant Yash Dayal were the pick of the Gujarat Titans bowlers, the pace duo scalping three wickets each.
Titans skipper Hardik also scalped a wicket and forced a run-out.
