On Wednesday, during their loss to Punjab Kings (PBKS) in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match in Guwahati, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson provided an explanation as to why Jos Buttler was not the opening batsman. Ravichandran Ashwin, a seasoned off-spinner, opened the batting for the team with Yashasvi Jaiswal while they chased a target of 198.
Despite the team’s decision, it did not work out well as Rajasthan Royals lost two wickets in the initial four overs and were at 26/2. Jos Buttler was then sent in at no.3, but unfortunately, he was dismissed by Nathan Ellis, having scored 19 runs off 11 balls.
During the post-match press conference, Sanju Samson shared that he had an injury scare while fielding, “Jos wasn’t fully fit. He had a stitch on his finger.”
Regarding the decision to send Ravichandran Ashwin ahead of Devdutt Padikkal, the Rajasthan Royals captain explained that the team’s strategy was to have a left-hander in the middle order as Punjab Kings had two spinners, a left-arm spinner (Harpreet Brar) and a legspinner (Rahul Chahar), bowling in the middle overs.
Prabhsimran Singh and Shikhar Dhawan’s partnership of 90 runs in the opening stand, with Dhawan scoring 56 off 60 balls, helped Punjab Kings set a total of 197 runs for the loss of 4 wickets after being invited to bat first in Guwahati.
Nathan Ellis was the standout performer for Punjab Kings in the 2nd inning, taking four wickets for 30 runs in his second game of his IPL debut season. Despite the scare, RR managed to reach 192-7 by the end of the match.