With Rajasthan Royals (RR) left with a mountain to climb, Sanju Samson and Co. handed a surprise batting demotion to superstar Jos Buttler during their unsuccessful 198-run chase against Shikhar Dhawan's free-scoring Punjab Kings (PBKS) at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday. No stranger to experimenting with his batting in Indian Premier League (IPL), Ravichandran Ashwin threw his hat in the ring as the veteran all-rounder opened the innings for the Royals with youngster Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Replacing Buttler as RR's makeshift opener against Punjab Kings, Ashwin failed to make an impact and perished for a four-ball duck. Last year, the street-smart cricketer had become the first batter to be tactically retired out in the cash-rich league. Buttler, who exchanged his batting positions with Ashwin, walked out to bat at No.3 while southpaw Devdutt Padikkal featured as a middle-order batter.
Even though it was clear that Buttler will not open the innings for the Royals, the RR think tank refused to promote Padikkal, a natural opener, and instead preferred Ashwin as a makeshift option. When asked about RR's top-order ploy after the match, Rajasthan skipper Samson revealed that Buttler suffered an injury scare while fielding for the 2008 champions.
"Jos wasn't fully fit. He had a stitch on his finger," said Samson, who top-scored for the Royals against Punjab. The Englishman injured his finger after taking a diving catch of Shahrukh Khan. "The thinking behind Devdutt Padikkal at No. 4 was we knew that they had a left-arm spinner (Harpreet Brar) and legspinner (Rahul Chahar) who would be bowling in the middle overs. So, it was important for us to have a left-hander," the RR captain added.
{{/usCountry}}"Jos wasn't fully fit. He had a stitch on his finger," said Samson, who top-scored for the Royals against Punjab. The Englishman injured his finger after taking a diving catch of Shahrukh Khan. "The thinking behind Devdutt Padikkal at No. 4 was we knew that they had a left-arm spinner (Harpreet Brar) and legspinner (Rahul Chahar) who would be bowling in the middle overs. So, it was important for us to have a left-hander," the RR captain added.
{{/usCountry}}Riding on Dhawan's sublime 86-run knock-off 56 balls, PBKS posted 197/4 in the 20-over contest at Guwahati. In reply, Rajasthan mustered 192/7 as Samson and Co. lost the match by 5 runs. England skipper Buttler scored 19 off 11 balls while Padikkal ended up playing a frustrating knock of 21 off 26 balls. Staging RR's fightback in the death overs, Shimron Hetmyer (36 off 18 balls) and Impact Player Dhruv Jurel (32* off 15 balls) made sure that Rajasthan remain in the hunt of winning the high-scoring encounter.
However, Sam Curran's final-over heroics sealed PBKS' second-straight win of the IPL 2023. The record-breaking signing of PBKS held his nerve and defended 16 runs in the final over. Reflecting on RR's performance, Rajasthan skipper Samson lauded youngster Jurel for his fighting knock against Punjab.
“The coaches have put a lot of work behind him (on Dhruv Jurel), we had a work week camp before the IPL, but the way they have worked a lot of time in our academies (during off-season), having faced 1000s of balls and I'm happy with the way they're progressing. I was expecting the dew to come in the second innings, but it was evident that it was there right at the start, need to be prepared better for such things in the next game,” Samson concluded.