Jos Buttler scored 95* against CSK. (Source: BCCI)
Rajasthan Royals defeated Chennai Super Kings on Friday after Jos Buttler played a brilliant innings of 95* at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Chasing 177 on a slow track, RR went over the line with 4-wickets in hands and a ball to go.
Rajasthan Royals fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat hailed Buttler’s knock and the way he had stitched the innings. “That’s true, I think Jos has been taking the innings forward on his own in the last four innings and it is time for someone to step up in middle order,” Unadkat said in the post match press conference.
“It is high time that someone else takes responsibility. They were getting starts and played well in the middle and hit a few sixes, otherwise Jos could not have pulled it off alone. But more contribution in the middle would be welcome and we need more of them at this time of tournament,” he added.
Ajinkya Rahane has been scoring runs for his side but hasn’t got a big score for the team. Talking about his abilities with the bat, Unadkat insisted he is a class player and has won matches for them on his own. “Rahane is a class player and has won matches on his own,” the medium pacer said.
“He has been a special player for Rajasthan Royals and is captaining the side very well. It is about time that he plays a special innings. These things help when you are through a rough patch but we will soon see a special innings from him,” Unadkat added.
Australia skipper Steve Smith was initially given the captaincy of Rajasthan Royals but after he was banned for one year by Cricket Australia for involvement in the ball tampering scandal, the duty was passed on to Rahane. Unadkat, while talking about Smith, admitted that the Australia captain is a “world-class” player and his absence has affected the team. “We have done fair to ourselves in this tournament,” he said. “We have been good in patches, extraordinary in patches and bad in patches as well. Of course [Smith] is a world-class player and world-class leader in himself but we cannot keep on ruing his absence.”
Mentioning about the team combination, Unadkat insisted that this is the perfect combination that they have. “The combination of team is coming right at this point and that is what is important for us. Other than just ruing about not having a player I feel it is our responsibility as seniors in the team to see that everyone is in good space, the atmosphere is good and that will allow the youngsters to come up and do well for the team.”
“Having said that, it happens because the bowlers keep trying the same things or sometimes trying to execute certain plans,” he said. “But in T20 cricket, restricting the extras would certainly give cushion for extra 10-20 runs. It was those runs which helped CSK reach 176 otherwise their total was par,” he added.