Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper, Sanju Samson revealed in post-match interaction, that why ace Indian off-spinner, Ravichandran Ashwin opened the innings against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023. While in the 8th match of the league, PBKS beat RR by 5 runs.
Now, the Royals have lost one and won one game, they are currently in the 4th spot in the points table standing of IPL 2023. Where in the last match England’s opening batter, Jos Buttler played at one down position, while Ashwin opened the innings and was dismissed without troubling the score.
Sanju Samson explained why Jos Buttler was swapped with Ravichandran Ashwin-
“Jos wasn’t fully fit. He had a stitch on his finger.
“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,” said Samson on the Englishman who injured his finger after taking a diving catch of Shahrukh Khan.
While in the game the newly opening batting partners didn’t last long and the partnership was broken in the second over, as Yashasvi Jaiswal was dismissed for 11 runs, Buttler came in for 2008 champions at one down position, whereas Ashwin’s wicket was struck by Arshdeep Singh on 0, when he tried to pull Indian speedster delivery in the 4th over.
“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,” he further added.
What. A. Take ?@josbuttler puts in a magnificent dive to dismiss the well set Prabhsimran for 60!@rajasthanroyals with their first wicket.#TATAIPL | #RRvPBKS pic.twitter.com/apJpCQmqjf
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 5, 2023
Coming to the game, Sanju Samson-led side won the toss and opted to field first, Shikhar Dhawan-led PBKS batted first and posted 197/4 in 20 overs, Punjab’s opener, Dhawan and Prabhsimran Singh together added 90 runs in the first 10 overs, while veteran left-handed batter remained unbeaten on 86 runs to take his side to a comfortable target. While Ashwin picked one wicket by giving 25 runs in four overs for RR.
#ravichandranashwin takes a wicket of #SikandarRaza .
Beautily bolwed by him ??#TATAIPL #PBKSvsRR#RRvPBKS #PBKSvRR#RRvsPBKS #ShikharDhawan#Guwahati #IPL23pic.twitter.com/deEt3LYXPe
— Sourabh Bari (@thesourabhbari) April 5, 2023
In the chase, their star overseas player Buttler was dismissed for 19 runs, while the RR skipper scored the highest 42 runs, along with key contributions from Shimron Hetymer and Dhruv Jurel, but at the end, they were short of the target and managed 192/7 in 20 overs.
Now in IPL 2023, RR will take on Sunrisers Hyderabad in their next game on April 9 at Hyderabad.