The whole debate on whether Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson could have taken a single and given the strike to Chris Morris while chasing 221 against Punjab Kings in their opening encounter of IPL 2021( Match Number-4) has proved one thing. No matter how much data-driven the game of cricket has become it is individual brilliance combined with cricketing intelligence that help you win matches at the end of the day.

Of course, Morris cleared any doubts regarding his batting prowess by scoring 36 runs in just 18 deliveries to help Royals register its first win this season over Delhi Capitals in the very next match that the Jaipur-based franchise played. More importantly, the South African all-rounder hit 4 sixes including 2 off Kagiso Rabada when 27 runs were needed from 12 balls.

In the previous match against Punjab Kings the Royals got into a similar situation while chasing a mammoth target. Needing 13 runs of the last over Sanju Samson brought down the equation to 5 runs from the last 2 legal deliveries. It was precisely at that moment  in the match  that Samson decided to keep strike even though Morris had almost run down to the other end when a single was on offer.  

Samson who had by then scored 119 runs in 63 balls backed himself to finish the game with a maximum. But he could not clear the boundary and holed out in the deep. The debate on whether Samson did the right thing in terms of cricket analytics can be put into context by dwelling upon what Rahul Dravid had said while addressing the first ever panel discussion on cricket at the 15^th MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference held recently. The title of the panel discussion was “Howzdata-How Analytics is Revolutionizing Cricket”.      

“Cricket has always been statistically driven...moved beyond comparing averages”

“The days are not far off when people are going to turn down a single because match up suites them to be able to hit a six in the two or three balls”, Dravid had opined. “ Cricket has always been statistically driven like baseball, but over the past 15 years we have moved beyond comparing averages and now use data to help in strategy and player selection”, the former Indian cricketer and current director of NCA (National Cricket Academy) went on to add. 

It is hard to say with conviction whether Samson who was leading the Royals for the first time in his IPL career had taken pure statistics into consideration before refusing the single. One must not forget that the wicket-keeper batsman had slammed 12 boundaries and 7 sixes till the final delivery was bowled in the match. Also, Morris had managed only 2 runs from 4 deliveries he faced.

Samson however stuck to his guns even though he failed to take his team over the line. “ Always sit back and review my game. If I play that match 100 times I would not take the single”, Samson was quoted as saying in the media after the match against Delhi Capitals that saw Morris finish the game in style with 2 balls to spare.

“ My final thought on the denied single is this: the game is evolving and very soon in the future, you won’t be seeing single being attempted at that stage. If a batsman fancies a particular bowler, he should farm the strike and go for it. It has absolutely nothing to do with ego; just the simple demands of the moment and the team. Winning is everything”, Samson further iterated as per cricket-specific website Crictracker. 

“I was going to run back no matter what to sacrifice because Sanju was hitting it so sweetly”

Interestingly, Rahul Dravid also highlighted in his speech at theaforementioned panel discussion  that the goal behind the application of data should be to drive a good contest. “Data should drive a good contest between bat and ball in cricket, not just for hitting fours and sixes’, the former Indian cricketer who scored  tons of runs across all formats in his internationals career underscored.

The legendary former cricketer and commentator Sunil Gavaskar supported Samson’s decision  while former New Zealand cricketer Simon Doul reckoned that had the Royals skipper taken the single Morris could have hit a four and Delhi Capitals would have lost.   

“ I think it was the right decision. I think if anybody had to hit a boundary it had to be Sanju Samson. If he had gone back for the second run there was an opportunity to get him run out. I think he did the right thing. No doubts about in my mind. I would not point fingers at him for not taking that single in the last over” Brian Lara      

Morris meanwhile had an interesting take on the whole matter. “I was going to run back no matter what to sacrifice because Sanju was hitting it so sweetly. Sanju was hitting it like a dream, I wouldn’t have been too upset if he had hit the last ball for six”, the South African said after the match against Capitals.

Individual brilliance is not one-way traffic

As far as cricketing wisdom is concerned nothing can beat the experience of ‘been there almost done that’ when it comes to crunch situations. Morris one can recall was involved in a nail biting chase way back in IPL 2015 when he was a part of the Delhi Daredevils (now Delhi Capitals) franchise.

In that match against Gujarat Lions ( now defunct) franchise the South African played a blinder of an innings to pull his team out of a precarious situation only to falter in the final delivery . Needing 173 runs to win the match the Delhi based franchise were tottering at 57/4 at one stage. Morris then slammed 50 runs in just 17 deliveries.

The blitzkrieg from the South African changed the complexion of the game as the Daredevils needed just 18 runs from the last 2 overs. Things got closer and 14 runs were needed from the last 6 balls. Dwayne Bravo bowled the last over and in the last ball 4 runs were needed with Morris on strike who was striking the ball ‘like a dream’.  But he could not get his team over the line.

 The South African who scored 82 runs off 32 balls nevertheless played one of the best knocks in the history of IPL. Actually it was Praveen Kumar who bowled the penultimate over that cost only 4 runs did the trick. Bravo too held his nerve in the final over and ensured victory for the Gujarat Lions. Individual brilliance after all is not one way traffic.

 No statistical analysis could have predicted what Meredith did

In the match against Punjab Kings in this year’s IPL when young left arm pacer Arshdeep Singh picked up the ball to bowl the final 6 deliveries he had conceded only 27 runs in 3 overs.  More importantly he had already picked up 2 wickets.

But perhaps the biggest turning point of the match came in the 19^th over of the chase. Riley Meredith who was playing for first time in the IPL picked the all important wicket of Rahul Tewatia in the very first ball. He gave away just 8 runs in the over. Before that he had leaked 41 runs in 3 overs.  No statistical analysis could have predicted that Meredith would  give away just 8 runs when 21 runs were needed off 12 balls.

So the odds were heavily against the Australian when Punjab Kings skipper K.L Rahul  handed him the ball to bowl the crucial over. Meredith  used all his experience of being involved in many such close encounters in the Big Bash League to keep his IPL side in the hunt going into the final over. The youngster Singh did the rest.

Coming back to the debate on whether Samson should have gone for a single one cannot help but ponder whether there was a possibility of 2 runs being scored. If they managed to do so  then it would have meant that 3 runs were needed in the final delivery instead of 5.

 In hindsight it can be said that Samson probably put himself under too much pressure by refusing to change ends. After all there are only a few instances in cricket when batsmen have managed to hit a six when as many runs were needed in the final delivery of a match. It is a rarity if one goes by statistics alone.  

More importantly Arshdeep Singh indicated in the post-match media interaction that the game plan for the last delivery was to avoid getting hit for a maximum. He did not mind being hit for a four. Whereas if Samson had responded to the call from Morris and completed 1 run and let’s say  if the South African got run out while taking the second run the equation would have boiled down to 4 runs to win.

Individual brilliance or talent wins games but it is teamwork and intelligence that wins championships

 Of course nobody can deny the possibility that Samson himself might have got run out in the process. But one thing is for sure it is easier to score 4 runs in comparison to hit 5 runs off 1 legal delivery. Since Morris had shown in the past that he has got the ability to use the long handle in pressure situations cricketing wisdom dictates that Samson could afford to go for the run and if possible push harder and turn it into a couple.

 Morris has shown that he has the cricketing intelligence to learn from his ‘been there almost done that’ experience and finish things on his own like he did against his team’s second game against Delhi Capitals this season. Now it is upto Samson on what he chooses to learn from the debate that followed after he denied the single.

 Notwithstanding the fact that the wicket-keeper batsman maintained that he will not take the single if he plays the same match a hundred times as the skipper of Rajasthan Royals he must acknowledge one thing – individual brilliance or talent wins games but it is teamwork and intelligence that wins championships.    

( Images Courtesy : BCCI )