For Rajasthan Royals, it was yet again a missed opportunity to reach their second IPL final in three years after Sanju Samson & Co were caught off-guard by a shrewd Sunrisers Hyderabad that banked on their left-arm part-timers for a 36-run win to set their date with Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL 2024 final on Sunday.

The Royals’ batting unit, which had fired on all cylinders throughout the tournament, lost fuel when it mattered the most for the side in their pursuit of a second IPL trophy, resulting in their exit, one step before the title clash.

Analysing the defeat that ended their presence in this season, Samson felt that the Royals lacked a proactive batting approach against Sunrisers Hyderabad’s left-arm fingerspinners on a dry Chepauk pitch, which offered more purchase to the slower bowlers in the second innings.

“I think we were found short of options in the middle overs against spin, and I think that’s where we lost the game. Against left-arm spin, we had three-four right-handers in the middle and the ball was stopping. But we could’ve tried a bit more (options) – reverse-sweep or use of the crease a bit more – and they (SRH) also bowled really well, actually,” Samson said.

SRH captain Pat Cummins’ smart move to employ his part-time left-arm spin options in Shahbaz Ahmed (3 for 23) and Abhishek Sharma (2 for 24) broke the backbone of the Royals during their chase of 176.

The Chepauk track had offered an average turn of 1.8 degrees when Royals spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal were operating, but that number jumped up to 3.3 degrees in the second, according to the host broadcaster. SRH had left out their main spinners, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth and Mayank Markande, for this knockout game and instead opted to employ the part-time left-arm spin duo that paid dividends. In fact, Aiden Markram also found a sharp turn in the only over that he bowled.

Samson also said that the Royals were expecting dew to be a factor, but it never materialised as the Chepauk track remained sticky till the very end on Friday night.

“It’s actually very hard to guess – when we can expect dew or not (in Chennai). So, the wicket started behaving differently in the second innings. The ball started turning a bit and they used the advantage and bowled spin in the middle overs against our right-handers and that’s where they were one-up against us,” he assessed.

Positives from the campaign

Samson felt that the season was a productive one not only for the Royals but from Indian cricket’s point of view as a number of young players like Riyan Parag and Dhruv Jurel stepped up through the season. Assam’s Parag ended the season with 573 runs in 14 innings at a strike rate of just under 150 – only Ruturaj Gaikwad and Virat Kohli have scored more runs than him this season – while Jurel played some sparkling cameos.

“To be very honest, we’ve had some brilliant games not only this season, but the last three years have been a great project for our franchise,” Samson said.

“We’ve found some really great talent for the country, I think. Riyan Parag coming out of this season and Dhruv Jurel and a lot of them are looking really exciting, not only for RR but for the Indian cricket team,” he added.

Royals’ Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara said he was pleased with how the season panned out for them overall. RR were the early pace-setters winning eight of their first nine games before undergoing a five-match winless streak and somehow scrapped to the second qualifier, despite Jos Buttler leaving the IPL for England duty and Shimron Hetmyer sitting out with an injury towards the business end of the tournament.

“I think it was a great season for us. We started really well and then we lost a close game to SRH in Hyderabad. And then in Delhi also we put ourselves in winning positions and sometimes you have streaks. RCB lost almost every game at the start and then caught up. That’s how T20 goes,” he said.

“All we can do is to put ourselves in positions for playoffs and vying for finals, which we did. I think all the guys through the season played really phenomenal cricket and there was a little bit of fatigue, of course, at the back end. But it doesn’t really matter when you’re in games like this – you’ve got to turn up and perform,” the Sri Lankan legend added.

Samson was also effusive in his praise for medium pacer Sandeep Sharma, who answered critics despite the snub at the IPL auction, and joined the Royals as a replacement. In 11 games he played in the ongoing season, the Punjab pacer picked up 13 wickets at an average of 23.92 and 8.18.

“I am happy for him. By not being picked in the auctions and coming back as a replacement. the way he bowled, he has delivered. If we look at the numbers, Sandeep Sharma in the last two years, will be the next guy after Bumrah. He has done a great job,” he said.