Samson makes a Royal IPL entry

Punjab's record in Jaipur has been patchy right from the start of the IPL. I had been to the ground for this clash last year, and my team, Rajasthan Royals, had won convincingly. So, my expectations from the home side were high this year. Above all, this was probably my last chance to see Adam Gilchrist on the field, so I wasn't going to miss it at any cost.Team supportedRajasthan Royals. My home city's team comprises of some of the most delightful talents in the world, including Rahul Dravid, Brad Hodge and Shane Watson. They are also a well-behaved team, and are quite often on top of the fairplay charts.Key performerLike Royals' last home game, this was another team effort, with four seamers picking up two wickets each, and a bunch of batsmen contributing the runs. But for me, the star performer was the young 18-year old wicketkeeper, Sanju Samson. He completed three smart catches behind the stumps, and a timely run-out when Praveen Kumar was threatening to do some damage with the bat. Later Samson contributed a gutsy, unbeaten 27 under real pressure to guide Rajasthan over the line - a wonderful effort on his IPL debut.One thing I'd have changedConsidering that it was a wicket that helped the seamers, and the target wasn't too challenging, Rajasthan could have promoted Brad Hodge to No. 4. He has the technique and experience to counter the moving ball. Stuart Binny's lack of footwork was evident in his dismissal, that put the Royals under some avoidable pressure.Face-off I relishedShane Watson v Ryan Harris - two big strong Aussies, one expected to get early wickets, the other expected to provide quick starts. Harris started with a couple of good ones, but once Watson got into his stride, the crowd went delirious. He struck tree fours in the same over, including a couple of convincing shots through midwicket. Harris didn't recover from the early blows until the very end of the innings.