Rajasthan Royals are on top of the points table with five wins from six games.
New Delhi: Despite Rajasthan Royals’ three-wicket win over Punjab Kings on Saturday in IPL 2024, captain Sanju Samson was at the receiving end as former cricketers Robin Uthappa and Zaheer Khan questioned his tactics regarding debutant Tanush Kotian. The 25-year-old from Mumbai, who played at No.8 or below all his career, was sent to open the innings with Yashasvi Jaiswal at the PCA Stadium in Mullanpur, a move that left both Zaheer and Uthappa speechless.
For the unknown, Kotian is primarily an off-spin bowling all-rounder. Besides his bowling credentials, Kotian impressed everyone with four fifties and one century in the recent Ranji Trophy season. His top scores of 120 not out (Baroda) and 89 not out (Tamil Nadu) came while batting at no.10 and has a first-class average of 42. Although Mumbai treats him as a bowling all-rounder, RR decided to give it a spin.
With no Jos Buttler in the side, who missed out due to a niggle, Rajasthan Royals’ decision to send him at the top of the order left Uthappa dumbfounded. “They have to a lot of lessons from this game. They do this to themselves every season. They are a solid side,” said the former cricketer on JIO Cinema.
“They don’t need to do anything silly and they will end up at the top of the table. But somehow, they do something like this every season with just befuddled everyone. I was dumbfounded in the commentary box when I saw Tanush Kotiyan walking out to open the batting. What’s the logic? Putting a kid who is playing his first match in the IPL in a situation that he has never been in,” he added.
Former India pacer Zaheer feared the move could have cost Rajasthan Royals two valuable points. “They showed exactly what not to do in a run chase. They sent a No.10 batter to open the innings. He was playing his first game. This surely could have cost them two points,” he said.
“It was not a chase where a Shimron Hetmyer-like knock was required. It should have been more clinical. But in the end, they got the two points. They are sitting at the top. They are a very good team only decisions like these could cost them games and points. You saw the tension in the dugout. This game should give them a lot of learning,” added Zaheer.
However, the move didn’t go as planned as Kotian played the slowest knock in the ongoing season. The right-hander played 31 balls for his 24 at a strike rate of 77, hitting just three boundaries in the process.
Samson Explains The Logic Behind
With no Buttler, Samson didn’t wanted the rest of the batting order to unsettle and wanted a stop-gap replacement for the England skipper. “He came in as an all-rounder. Had a fabulous Ranji Trophy season. He has been impressing everyone in the nets. We had a proper settled batting order, so we did not want to unsettle it. Jos is almost ready for the next game and we wanted to try him (Kotian) up the order,” Samson said during the post-match presentation.