"Forever The First Royal", this is the tagline which Rajasthan Royals have used for the entire duration of the ongoing IPL 2022 to pay their tribute to late Australian spinner Shane Warne. The cricket legend had passed away in March this year in Thailand after a suspected heart attack. Warne had led Rajasthan Royals to IPL glory in the inaugural season in 2008 and for the first time since then, the franchise have made it to the IPL final and will be squaring off against Gujarat Titans in the summit clash on Sunday.
Rajasthan Royals got the better of Royal Challengers Bangalore in Qualifier 2 on Friday to set-up the final against Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
After the win on Friday, both Jos Buttler and Sanju Samson spoke about how the side wants to bring the title to Rajasthan for Warne.
In a video posted on the website of IPL, Buttler first speaks to Samson, saying: "How do you feel, obviously incredibly sad this year. One of the first Royals Shane Warne is not going to be here, but his legacy lives on in the Royals, doesn't it?"
To this, Samson replies: "Absolutely, I think the tournament right from the start has been for him. I think we need to take one more step for him, I think it is really special. I do not want to talk much about it, but we are just one step closer. Want to do something special for him."
Jos Buttler had smashed an unbeaten century to take RR over the line by seven wickets and 11 balls to spare against RCB in Qualifier 2 on Friday.
When asked about his animated celebration after registering his fourth ton of the season, Buttler said: "I was really excited today to come in play in this stadium with a 100,000 people in the stadium. The atmosphere was amazing, I just think having had two years of playing in empty stadiums, this is what IPL is all about, I felt a lot of excitement, I could not control it."