WATCH: Sanju Samson’s brilliant reverse sweep leaves Washington Sundar clueless

Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson left off-spinner Washington Sundar speechless with a terrific reverse sweep in his team’s IPL 2022 opening game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Tuesday (March 29).

The usually classy India and Kerala batter took the adventurous route against Sundar, known for his quality defensive bowling skills in T20s, and executed the reverse sweep to perfection over the short-third fielder.

Sanju Samson had made his intentions clear quite early, getting into shape to play the reverse sweep when Sundar was still into his delivery stride. Seeing the batter change positions in the crease, the off-spinner dropped the ball short to try and nullify the stroke .

Yet, Samson’s range is so wide that the batter still managed to get proper connection on his stroke and dispatched the ball for four more runs to his kitty.

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Sanju Samson was in top form for RR against SRH in IPL 2022.

Sanju Samson in top form against Washington Sundar

The reverse-sweep, or more a lap, was on display in full glory on the fourth ball of the 11th over in Royals’ innings where Sanju Samson unleashed his wrath on Sundar after forcing him to bowl one on a shorter length.

Since Samson got into his attempted sweep a second early, Sundar, with his open-chest action, managed to make late adjustment and pull the length back. Yet, the batter was good enough to go through with his stroke and end with another boundary.

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That was one of eight boundaries that Sanju Samson hit on the night against an SRH attack featuring multiple international bowlers. The batter smashed three fours and five sixes through an exhilarating knock of 55 off just 27 deliveries.

Walking into bat in the seventh over with RR on the push towards a huge score from a position of strength at 58/1, Samson got into the act from the get-go and hit the SRH bowling unit to all parts of the ground in Pune .

The elegant and stylish batter took good advantage of the true pace and bounce from the surface and focused, as always, on timing the ball by holding good shape for each of his attempted big hits.