The Rajasthan Royals have a new player on their squad today, Yashraj Punja and he was brought in as an impact player in the 2nd innings. There are certain speculations going around the internet on the confusion if this match will be counted as the debut match as he wasn’t in the starting XI. The answer is yes, it will be considered as his first match as he was brought into the squad at one point in time and he had the opportunity to bowl in the game.
According to the playing conditions and statistics protocols used by the BCCI, once a player enters the field of play as an Impact Player, they are officially capped for that match. So, Yashraj Punja has been officially capped for the first time in his career and he has made quite the impact with a wicket to his name.
KKR seal victory with late fightback as debutant Yashraj Punja impresses with a crucial wicket
The Kolkata Knight Riders were simply outstanding with the bowl as they lost the power play to the strong batting of Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. After the wicket of Vaibhav Sooryavansi, the wickets started to fall like a deck of cards. Following the 1st wicket, Dhruv Jurel was dismissed just 2 overs after and soon after that followed the wicket of Jaiswal. None of their big hitters could get going as Kartik Tyagi and Varun Chakravarthy were on top of their game. The Royals finished at 155 after the 20 overs and KKR had a relatively easy chase in their hands.
However, the batting of the home side just reflected the kind of season they have had so far as they once again crumbled under pressure. Tim Seifert and Ajinkya Rahane were dismissed in the first two overs of the game by Jofra Archer and Nandre Burger. Then Ravi Bishnoi was brought into the attack and he dismissed Cameron Green, the big fish. Ravindra Jadeja had a massive impact in the game as he dismissed Angkrish Raghuvanshi and Rovman Powell.
Yash Punja was given a chance with the ball and he was hoping to make an impact with the ball in his very first game of the match. Ramandeep Singh was looking dangerous as he was taking his time, rotating the strike and with a low total such as this, RR needed wickets. Yashraj Punja floated one wide away from the batter and Ramandeep managed to get a thick outside edge and brought it back onto the stumps. This was a crucial wicket in the grand scheme of things.
The Kolkata Knight Riders have managed to get their 1st victory of the season with a six by Rinku Singh and that man has brought life into the KKR squad. It may be a bit too late in the season but Ajinkya Rahane will be proud of his men.
