IPL 2024: History beckons for Samson as Rajasthan eye place in final

Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson confronts his destiny when he leads Rajasthan Royals against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL 2024 Qualifier 2 on Friday at Chennai’s MA Chidambaram Stadium.

While a place in the final against Kolkata Knight Riders will be the main priority, Samson can also create some personal history by becoming the most successful captain in the history of the IPL by breaking Shane Warne's long-standing record in T20 history.

When RR defeated Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the IPL 2024 Eliminator on Wednesday it brought up Samson's 31st win as the team's captain to tie a long-standing record held by Australian Shane Warne.

Warne captained Rajasthan Royals from 2008 to 2011 in 56 matches and 31 victories.

Rahul Dravid led the Jaipur-based side 40 times from 2012 to 2013 and 23 victories.

Others to lead RR were Shane Watson, Steve and Ajinkya Rahane led RR in 24 matches from 2018 to 2019.

Samson, 29, was named skipper in 2021 and since then the dashing wicketkeeper-batsman has led the team out in 60 matches, which is an IPL record.

However, Samson leads Rajasthan against a side who will have the psychological advantage having won the last game between the two sides on May 2. Even if only just.

In the last-ball thriller, SRH eked out a one-run win against RR.

With two runs required off the last ball, Buvneshwar Kumar had Rovman Powell out leg-before wicket.

SRH have been in strong form all season and their win over Punjab Kings allowed them to secure the second spot in the IPL table at the cost of RR.

Hyderabad and Rajasthan both finished the league phase of the tournament on 17 points, but the former was placed higher due to a superior Net Run Rate (NRR).

There is little to choose between the two sides who have thrilled their fans with some inspiring performances.

Rajasthan’s confidence will have been boosted by the way they beat Bengaluru, who were on a six-match winning streak, by playing with a lot of confidence.

In the 19 head-to-head encounters between Rajasthan and Hyderabad in the IPL SRH enjoys a narrow advantage with 10 wins, to RR’s nine. In their only playoff meeting, RR emerged victorious. The last six meetings between the two sides have been evenly matched.

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