Watch: Sanju Samson blocks wide to let Yashasvi Jaiswal score century, fans reminded of Dhoni's act for Kohli

Sanju Samson's incredible act to let Yashasvi Jaiswal score a century in KKR vs RR IPL match reminded fans of Dhoni's gesture for Kohli in 2014 T20 World Cup.

Rajasthan Royals' (RR) fans ended up getting a night to remember during the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). RR came into the match needing a win to end a wretched run of form they were on and bolster their chances of making it past the league stage. Not only did they win the game, they brushed aside the opposition, largely thanks to a blistering 98 not out off 47 balls by young opener Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Jaiswal went for the big hits from literally the first ball of the innings after Yuzvendra Chahal's four-wicket haul helped RR restrict KKR to a score of 149/8. He started off by hitting two sixes off the first two balls of the innings and ended up taking a whopping 26 runs off the first over. Jaiswal eventually broke the record for the fastest-ever IPL fifty, bringing it up in just 13 balls.

While Jos Buttler ended up falling for a duck, captain Sanju Samson eventually started hitting as freely as Jaiswal and the competition in the end really became about whether the latter can get to a century or not before the end of the chase.

It came to a point where Jaiswal got off strike and reached 94 with RR needing just three runs to win and with one ball remaining in the 13th over. Samson himself was on 48 off 28 at the time and the bowler Suyash seemed to have sent the ball in wide down the leg side. Samson, however, moved his front leg all the way and blocked the ball before seemingly asking Samson to just hit a six and end the match himself.

The gesture was one that won praise from a number of fans on social media, some of whom seemed to equate it with what MS Dhoni once did for Virat Kohli in the semi-final of the 2014 T20 World Cup.

VIDEO: Samson defends wide-ball for Yashasvi Jaiswal's century, fans reminded of Dhoni's act for Kohli

Here is how the internet reacted to Samson's selfless act for Yashasvi Jaiswal's century.

India were chasing a target of 173 and Kohli had led the way with a blistering knock. It came to a point where Dhoni, who was yet to face a ball, came at the crease for the last ball of the 19th over with the scores level. The then-India captain ended up blocking the shot and then seemed to ask Kohli to finish it off. Kohli did so with a four off the first ball of the next over, ending unbeaten on 72 off 44.

Similarly, Jaiswal also ended up hitting a four off the first ball of the next over. While that wasn't enough to bring up his second century of the season, he celebrated like he had got there, taking off his helmet, pointing to the jersey and then raising his bat in the air. Jaiswal later said that this was his favourite shot of the day as he always wanted to finish a chase.

Disclaimer: This Article is auto-generated from the HT news service