Rajasthan Royals suffered a massive setback ahead of the game against Punjab Kings as Jos Buttler was ruled out due to an injury. The 2008 champions felt his absence during the game. The right-handed batter scored a hundred in the contest against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and it was his first meaningful score in IPL 2024.
His replacement, Tanush Kotian, scored 24 runs but took 31 balls, which could have cost the team if the target had exceeded 160.
When Sanju Samson was asked about putting an inexperienced batter in the opening slot, the RR captain backed the move.
“We have a balanced top and middle order. There was no point in disrupting that flow. We had a detailed discussion and decided to pair Tanush with Yashasvi Jaiswal. He played well, and the batter did well in the domestic cricket.
“He was included in the Playing XI for one game, as Jos is almost ready to return. He will play the next contest,” Sanju Samson said.
Punjab scored 147 for 8 in a low-scoring game. The batters failed to get going. Rajasthan suffered a similar fate in the middle order and almost conceded the game before Shimron Hetmyer scored an unbeaten 27 runs off 10 balls to seal the contest.
He hit three sixes and a four in his knock and was named the Player of the Match.
