RR vs PBKS: Why didn't Jos Buttler open the innings against Punjab Kings? Sanju Samson reveals the reason

Rajasthan Royals lost a thrilling game against Punjab Kings in the 8th match of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season on Wednesday (April 5). The Royals made a strange decision to open the innings with Ravi Ashwin in the 198-run chase instead of Jos Buttler. The move raised a lot of eyebrows as Buttler had provided a brilliant start to the Royals in the previous outing. However, RR skipper Sanju Samson has now revealed that the England batter was not completely fit and was having stitches to his finger.

For the unversed, Buttler injured his finger while taking a catch to dismiss Shahrukh Khan earlier in the evening. He ran from the deep and had to put in a slide to complete the catch but injured his finger in the process. Eventually, Jos Buttler required multiple stitches on the little finger of his left hand and hence, he came out to bat late in the innings. Moreover, he could score only 19 runs off 11 balls before getting out to Nathan Ellis. Speaking about the same, Sanju Samson said, "Jos was not fit. He was getting stitches for his finger after the catch."

To add to their woes, Ashwin who opened the innings bagged a four-ball duck. A lot of questions were raised on the off-spinner opening as well with the Royals having Devdutt Padikkal in the ranks. Explaining the decision, Samson stated that the plan was to keep Padikkal in the middle-order to tackle two spinners of Punjab Kings. "The thinking behind keeping Padikkal (in the middle order) was to tackle their two spinners in the middle overs," he said.

But even that move didn't work for them as Padikkal struggled right through his knock scoring only 21 runs off 26 balls with a solitary four. Impact Player Dhruv Jurel took the game deep with some brilliant hitting, scoring an unbeaten 32 off 15 deliveries. But his efforts went in vain as the Royals fell five runs short of the target.