Former Australian cricketer Tom Moody raised questions about Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Sanju Samson’s captaincy during IPL 2024 loss to Gujarat Titans (GT) . RR suffered its first defeat of IPL 2024 on Wednesday after rallying four games. Moody questioned Samson’s decision not to take full advantage of pacer Trent Boult with the ball. For the uninitiated, Boult bowled two balls and conceded eight runs in his first spell. However, Samson decided not to complete his full overs at the death of veteran bowler Ravichandran Ashwin.

Former SRH coach Moody believes Samson’s decision not to make the most of Bolt makes no sense.

“You’ve got to use Trent Boult at the back. He’s certainly been used at the death before and he’s got a lot of experience. So when it comes to pressure, he’s used to absorbing it and taking on those challenges. So I’m really surprised he wasn’t spent today. He left the park with two overs left on the bank, which doesn’t mean anything. Nothing against Ashwin, he’s a very good bowler. But he and Cha Hal scored 83 points. “They ran a total of eight runs. For me, Trent Boult was a real miss.Unless there’s an injury or illness that we’re not aware of,” Moody said ESPNcricinfo.

In the same discussion, former India cricketer Deep Dasgupta also questioned Samson’s decision to play Ashwin instead of Boult in the 17th over.

I can understand Ashwin bowling at No. 15, but what about No. 17? If you look at the bowling unit, Boult is the most experienced fast bowler there. Regardless of his quality or not, you’re still going to beat him in the backcourt. If he goes over left, you have to bowl to him,” said Deep Dasgupta questioning Samson’s decision.

Former India opener Aakash Chopra, while speaking on his YouTube channel, echoed the sentiments of Moody and Dasgupta and said Boult should be used in the midfield.

“If you bowl with the dry ball, then if you score enough runs, you should have the bowling to defend it. The fact is that Rajasthan have the bowling. They didn’t bowl Nandre Berger, but despite that, they have the bowling .Keshav Maharaj made his debut and they only bowled him for two overs,” Chopra said on his YouTube channel.

“Why did Trent Boult bowl only two overs? I don’t understand. Two overs, eight runs, and he bowled only two overs. Why? Keshav scored 16 runs in two overs, so those four overs total Scored only 24 runs and Trent Boult could have been dropped in the middle but you didn’t. You went towards the spinners,” he added.

Despite the defeat, RR remains at the top of the table after five games. They will now take on Kings XI Punjab on Saturday.