IPL 2021: Sanju Samson becomes first player to score century on IPL captaincy's debut

Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson became the first-ever player to score a century on his captaincy debut in the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Monday.

Samson scored 119 off 63 balls during RR's chase of 222 against Punjab Kings in their IPL 2021 meeting at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.

In the list of most runs scored on captaincy debut in the Indian T20 league, Delhi Capitals' Shreyas Iyer is on the second slot with an unbeaten 93, which he had scored against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 2018. Mumbai Indians' Kieron Pollard is placed third on the list with 83, which he scored against Punjab in 2019.

On Monday, Samson's effort went in vain as he got out on the final delivery of the innings and RR ended up losing the game by four runs. Samson was named the Player of the Match because most of RR's runs came off his bat. The next best score of a RR batsman was 25, which was scored by two batters: Jos Buttler and Riyan Parag.

Earlier in the game, RR won the toss and had asked Punjab to bat first in Mumbai. After losing Mayank Agarwal in the third over, Punjab's innings was stabilized by skipper KL Rahul and Chris Gayle. The two put up 67 runs for the second wicket before the West Indian was sent back to the pavilion in the 10th over. Gayle struck two sixes and four fours in his knock of 40 off 28 balls. Rahul then went on to share a crucial 105-run partnership with Deepak Hooda, who walked out to bat at No. 4.

Hooda's quick-fire knock turned the shape of Punjab's innings in the middle overs. He hammered six sixes and four fours in his 68 off 28 deliveries.

Meanwhile, Punjab skipper Rahul became the second-fastest batsman to score 2,000 runs for an IPL team. Gayle had reached the 2,000-run mark for Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 41 innings, while Rahul has taken two innings more to reach the milestone for Punjab. Moreover, Rahul became only the second Punjab batsman to enter the 2,000-club. The first was Australian batsman Shaun Marsh, who was associated with the 2014 runners up between 2008 and 2017.

"I didn't stop believing in the team, and we knew a couple of wickets will bring us back. The game went deep only because me included, we dropped some sitters. We bowled well until about 11-12 overs. We're used to this, and it's not something new for us, but a win like this brings the team together. We batted really well and bowled well in patches.

We weren't consistent with the lengths but the bowlers will learn. A lot of talented, skillful players, and it's important that we back them. It was an amazing innings from Hooda, and that's the kind of fearless batting we want to see in the IPL. We have been tentative sometimes, and it's important for us to play fearlessly at times, so I am happy that the expectations are being understood and met. Gayle and Hooda were both good that way. I always go to Arshdeep for crucial overs and he enjoys the pressure. He loves being in the contest and I love throwing him the ball, and he trusts himself and trusts his skills, so that's always good to see," Rahul said in a post-match interview after Punjab's four-run win on Monday.

RR have a two-day break before their next game in the IPL 2021, which is against Delhi Capitals (DC) on Thursday (April 15) in Mumbai. Punjab's upcoming match is a big one as they take on three-time winners Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Friday.