In the sixth over of RR’s innings, Krunal Pandya was blocked by Sanju Samson at the non-striker’s end as the left-arm spinner tried running across to complete a return catch.

Riyan Parag, facing his first delivery, got a leading edge off a back of length ball from Pandya which lobbed up towards the right of the bowler, where Samson was standing at the non-striker’s end.

Pandya started to move across to his right to take what would have been a rather simple catch had he reached there. But Samson stood his ground, getting in the way of Pandya in the process. The ball landed not so far from him and Riyan had a life.

Immediately afterwards, Pandya, already in contact with Samson, gave him a proper hug to sort it out and not let the block by Samson turn into a heated argument.

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He was hailed by the commentators for upholding the spirit of the game, who also defended Samson’s act, explaining that he was only holding his ground and not trying to obstruct the field.

“Oh dear, that’s unfortunate,” Sanjay Manjrekar said on air. “I love the reaction from Krunal Pandya, tremendous spirit because he was going for that catch, and the batter had every right to stay where he was. He would have taken that catch.”

“It wasn’t deliberate, he wasn’t trying to obstruct the field. But in the end it worked out well for his teammate,” said Darren Ganga in response.

“It’s just brilliant to see, something that happens instinctively tells you a lot about a person,” added Manjrekar.

Pandya ended up bowling an economical spell, conceding just 19 runs from his four overs without taking a wicket. At the time of writing, RR’s score read 110-2 after 12 overs.

Watch Krunal Pandya hugs Sanju Samson after being blocked from return catch:

Sanju Samson say Happy Birthday to Krunal Pandey. pic.twitter.com/88rL1EHzGi

— News Sphere (@newssphere24) March 24, 2024