IPL 2020 | Yashasvi Jaiswal might miss out to allow Jos Buttler open with Steve Smith, admits Ian Bishop

Rajasthan Royals struck gold in just their first encounter, against the Chennai Super Kings where they smacked and throttled the Men in Yellow for a fantastic victory. However, ahead of their second game in the same venue, against Kings XI Punjab, they have a decision to take with the return of Englishman Jos Buttler. The English opener missed the first on the back of his six-day mandatory quarantine period in the country, following his arrival with his family. 

While Steve Smith kept Jos Buttler’s batting position as a trivia for the opposition, former Windies pacer Ian Bishop revealed that Yashasvi Jaiswal is likely to miss out due to Buttler’s return into the setup. 

“I would open Buttler with Smith, it’s a good blend for the Royals. They would depend heavily on their overseas players for getting them home in a lot of games. While Smith would bat throughout the innings, he will allow the other guys to fashion themselves to score runs. I like Riyan Parag, he looks like he can be a good player which would mean that Jaiswal might miss out due to Buttler coming in,” said Ian Bishop in ESPNCricinfo’s show ‘T20 Timeout.’

“Don’t think its going to make much of a difference to switch between Smith at No.3 and opening the innings. Varun Aaron can come in the place of Yashasvi Jaiswal, who might miss out due to the permutation and combination,” Manjrekar added. 

He also opined that with the Englishman’s return, the franchise would be looking to drop one of David Miller or Tom Curran to the bench. In the first game, Miller’s unlucky stay at the crease just lasted a few minutes before he was run out by a great attempt in the deep by CSK’s fielder Ruturaj Gaikwad. 

“Ah, ya he might have to play instead of Tom Curran because you have Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat and a couple of spinners. I wouldn’t want them to take away David Miller from the equation as he would be still valuable for the team when one or two wickets fall up front,” he added.