Let us address the elephant in the room

You know what, it was a really special feeling for me to register my first win as captain of Rajasthan Royals in my second game in charge, despite having personally failed with the bat; way more special than scoring a hundred in a losing cause—which, incidentally, happened to me in my captaincy debut in the campaign opener. My first thought after Chris Morris hit that winning six on Thursday night was, “even if I don’t score for the next ten matches and we win all of them, I will be the happiest man.”

Give me a personal score of 4 runs and a victory, like it was against DC, over an innings of 119 runs and a defeat, however narrow that defeat was against Punjab Kings. Which brings me to the elephant in the room. I know everyone wants to know if I spoke to Chris after I kept the strike for the final ball against Punjab. To begin with, we were talking while the situation was unfolding itself. So, just before the 19th over began, we made it clear that I will be taking most of the strike; that even if I couldn’t hit a four or a six, we would be looking for twos to get me back on strike.

It was only natural that we would be doing the same in the final over as well. This was clear to Morris, me and the team management. Therefore, no, I did not have to go to him after the game and explain myself for not taking the single off the penultimate ball—it was absolutely clear to both of us.

Look, cricket is a really funny game. That night, I was also striking it so cleanly and still ended up getting out for a cheap score in the very next match. It was the reverse for Chris. He was finding it a bit tough to strike the ball against Punjab but everything was coming out of the middle of the bat versus Delhi.

Anyway, my final thought on the denied single is this: the game is evolving and very soon in the future you won’t be seeing

I KNOW EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW IF I SPOKE TO CHRIS AFTER I KEPT THE STRIKE FOR THE FINAL BALL AGAINST PUNJAB

singles 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.

Which is why I was ecstatic after Chris and (David) Miller won us the game with their amazing displays with the bat. I genuinely believe that neither had anything to prove to anyone—they are such well established and brilliant players. From the dug-out, I was only praying for the first six to go down. Once that happened (in the 16th over), I knew we were in with a shot because we bat deep. And the total wasn’t all that big, which was of course thanks to Jaydev Unadkat. J.D. has been through so much with this franchise. It was only a matter of showing him the trust he deserves in his return game.

Finally, on Ben Stokes. I was shattered when I found out about his injury (he will need surgery on his left index finger and could be out for 12 weeks). More than being a great performer or cricketer, he is a wonderful human being. But he’s still fully committed to the cause, whether he’s playing or not, by sticking around to support the team. In fact, during the meeting against DC, Stokes was more vocal than anyone else, egging on each and every player to find that first win. What more can a first-time captain ask for?

Sanju Samson will write weekly for HT on his experiences as a new

leader in the IPL.