R Meredith cricketer: Have Meredith and Jhye Richardson played the IPL in the past?

Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson: Punjab Kings have included three debutants in their IPL season opener against Rajasthan Royals.

During the fourth match of the ongoing 14th season of the Indian Premier League between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings in Mumbai, Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson has won the toss and chose to field.

“We are going to bowl first. We have challenges to face while picking the XI. But I am happy with the players we have. Very excited about the [captaincy] role,” Samson told Star Sports at the toss.

Samson, who is leading in the IPL for the first time, further mentioned that they’ve included Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, Chris Morris and Mustafizur Rahman as their four overseas players. In addition to Morris and Rahman, Royals have also handed debuts to opening batsman Manan Vohra and pacer Chetan Sakariya.

In 2013, Sanju Samson made his IPL debut against Punjab. Hit the winning runs in that game.

In 2021, Sanju Samson will make his IPL captaincy debut against Punjab! #RRvsPBKS

— Sarang Bhalerao (@bhaleraosarang) April 12, 2021

Have Riley Meredith and Jhye Richardson played the IPL in the past?

Punjab Kings captain Lokesh Rahul also wanted to bowl first highlighting the history of the Wankhede Stadium. Other than batsman Shahrukh Khan, Punjab have included a couple of overseas debutants in Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith.

Bought for a combined total of INR 22 crore in the auction earlier this year, both Richardson and Meredith are into their maiden IPL season after doing well for Perth Scorchers and Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League respectively.

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“We all know the history of Wankhede. Everyone wants to bowl first. But we would want to play good cricket. We can’t really pinpoint anything particular. It is about the batting group helping the bowling group and vice-versa. We were really happy with the auctions,” Rahul told Star Sports at the toss.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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