At six feet six inches tall, Yash Raj Punja is almost impossible to go unnoticed. On the eve of the IPL 2026 Eliminator, the 19-year-old Rajasthan Royals legspinner towered over everyone else at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium on the outskirts of Chandigarh — his unusually high release point and ability to generate prodigious bounce keeping even RR’s more experienced batters, including Yashasvi Jaiswal, on their toes during practice.
Two years earlier, that tall frame had caught the eye of Ian Bishop — almost as tall as the former West Indies pace legend himself — at Chennai airport, when Punja was merely a net bowler with the franchise. That post on X resurfaced and went viral when Punja made his IPL debut this season.
From net bowler to playoff spinner in two years. The story is as extraordinary as the height.
Table of Contents
The Journey: From Abu Dhabi to the Eliminator
Yash Raj Punja was born to Indian parents in Abu Dhabi. His elder brother Yodhin represented UAE Under-19s and the UAE senior team before injuries curtailed his career. Punja himself played recreational cricket in the Emirates — while admittedly procrastinating on his studies to watch IPL highlights — before K Jeshwant, the former Karnataka spinner, identified his potential and convinced his family to let him pursue professional cricket in Bengaluru.
“I think I first saw Yash in 2023-24, when I was at a coaching camp, as part of the Six Cricket Academy,” Jeshwant told ESPNcricinfo. “He was not playing serious cricket at the time, but you could see the talent. When Anil (Kumble) started at Karnataka, I was the vice-captain and I saw him develop. I saw a bit of Anil in Yash, especially with the height. But his bowling needed some work — he was falling to the side towards cover because of lateral flexion. Once that was sorted out, he could see the full value of his six feet six inches.”
Crucially, Alastair Cook also saw Punja bowl at a camp in Abu Dhabi and believed he possessed an X-factor. Even that was not enough to immediately convince Punja’s parents — understandably cautious given what had happened to Yodhin.
“His father was actually my classmate at St Joseph’s in Bangalore,” Jeshwant said. “Maybe that’s why they trusted me and sent him to Bangalore.”
The trust proved well-placed. Punja bowled to RR’s batters when the franchise ran a camp at the Six Academy in Bengaluru. He became a ‘Project Player’ for Rajasthan Royals. After becoming the second-highest wicket-taker in the KSCA’s Maharaja T20 league — 23 wickets in ten innings at an economy rate of 7.45 — RR promoted him to the main squad for IPL 2026.
The Debut Season: From Bench to Breakthrough
Punja warmed the bench for the first half of his debut IPL campaign. His opportunity came as an Impact Player against Kolkata Knight Riders at Eden Gardens, where he immediately showed why RR had backed him — having Ramandeep Singh chopping on with a wrong ‘un. Figures of 4-0-25-1 as RR’s third spinner, behind Ravi Bishnoi and Ravindra Jadeja, were creditable without being spectacular.
The performance that truly established him came in New Chandigarh, against Punjab Kings. He pinned down the notoriously aggressive Shreyas Iyer, dismissed Prabhsimran Singh, and removed the left-handed Cooper Connolly — three different types of dismissal, three different types of batter. That performance pushed Ravi Bishnoi — the No.1-ranked T20I bowler in the world not long ago — out of the RR XI. The message was clear: Punja was no longer a developmental option. He was the preferred choice.
| Yash Raj Punja — IPL 2026 Key Stats | Figure |
|---|---|
| Wickets | 8 |
| Games played | 6 |
| Economy rate (overall) | 8.79 |
| Economy rate (middle overs) | 8.76 |
| Left-hand batters dismissed | 3 |
| Economy rate vs left-handers | 8.1 |
The Tactical Case for Punja in the Eliminator
The venue for the Eliminator — the same Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Stadium in New Chandigarh — adds a specific tactical dimension to Punja’s selection. Pitch No. 4, on which he bowled his breakthrough performance against Punjab Kings, is set to be reused for the SRH fixture.
New Chandigarh is not a traditionally spin-friendly venue. But the data from this season reveals something important: legspinners have operated with a meaningful advantage here relative to other spin types.
| Spinner Type Economy Rate at New Chandigarh (IPL 2026) | Economy |
|---|---|
| Legspinners | 8.8 |
| Left-arm fingerspinners | 8.9 |
| Offspinners | 14.1 |
The bigger square boundaries — wider than the conventional ‘V’ — suit Punja’s into-the-pitch wristspin particularly well. His high release point generates extra bounce that becomes even more awkward when batters cannot simply clear the shorter boundary.
The SRH match-up reinforces his importance. Their potential top seven contains four left-handed batters — and Jadeja, not fully fit and in any case reluctant to be used against left-handers in this format, may not be the answer. In the two previous meetings between RR and SRH this season, Bishnoi and Jadeja bowled just one over each. The spin load may fall almost entirely on Punja.
The Comparison That Matters: A Bit of Kumble
Jeshwant’s comparison of Punja to a young Anil Kumble is not casual nostalgia. It is rooted in specific, observable characteristics: the height, the high arm, the ability to extract bounce that similarly tall spinners use to create angles most legspinners cannot access.
Kumar Sangakkara, the RR head coach, confirmed the assessment with his own observations. “He’s tall and has got good revs on the ball. He turns his legspinner and his googly and he has got a really calm demeanour under pressure,” Sangakkara said after RR sealed their playoff spot.
“The way he bowled to those seasoned batters was outstanding. He will just grow and improve. But I just want him to stay calm and really trust his skills because he has got pretty good skills.”
That middle-overs economy rate of 8.76 places him in elite company for the phase that most determines IPL outcomes.
| Middle-Overs Economy Rate (IPL 2026, Elite Spinners) | Economy |
|---|---|
| Ravindra Jadeja | 8.14 |
| Noor Ahmad | 8.17 |
| Axar Patel | 8.28 |
| Krunal Pandya | 8.53 |
| Yash Raj Punja | 8.76 |
In his debut IPL season, in six games, against some of the most destructive batting line-ups in the competition, Punja is bowling at an economy rate that sits alongside experienced international spinners who have been performing at this level for years.
Wednesday: From IPL Highlights to IPL Knockout
As a child in Abu Dhabi, Yash Raj Punja would procrastinate on studying to watch IPL highlights. On Wednesday, he is set to walk out for an IPL Eliminator as Rajasthan Royals’ lead spinner — a 19-year-old from the UAE, shaped by a former Karnataka vice-captain who saw a bit of Kumble in his action, given his opportunity by a franchise that builds cricketers as much as it builds teams.
The height is impossible to miss. So, increasingly, is the talent.
Read More: RR vs SRH Eliminator: The Tactical Battles That Could Decide a Place in the Qualifier 2
Also Read: 15 Year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Is Doing Things Even Chris Gayle Never Did
FAQs
Who is Yash Raj Punja and where is he from?
Yash Raj Punja is a 19-year-old legspinner born to Indian parents in Abu Dhabi. He played recreational cricket in the UAE before moving to Bengaluru after former Karnataka spinner K Jeshwant identified his potential.
What are Punja’s stats in IPL 2026?
Punja has taken eight wickets in six games at an economy rate of 8.79 overall and 8.76 in the middle overs — comparable to established international spinners like Axar Patel and Krunal Pandya.
Why did Punja replace Ravi Bishnoi in RR’s XI?
After a standout performance in New Chandigarh against Punjab Kings — where he dismissed Shreyas Iyer, Prabhsimran Singh, and Cooper Connolly — Punja established himself as RR’s preferred spin option, pushing the No.1-ranked T20I bowler Ravi Bishnoi out of the team.
Why is Punja particularly important in the Eliminator against SRH?
SRH’s potential top seven contains four left-handed batters, and Jadeja is not fully fit. Punja, who has dismissed three left-handers at 8.1 runs per over, becomes RR’s primary spin option. Legspinners have also had the best economy rate (8.8) of any spin type at New Chandigarh this season.
Who compared Punja to Anil Kumble and why?
Former Karnataka spinner K Jeshwant, who also mentored Punja’s development, drew the comparison based on shared physical characteristics — particularly height — and the ability to extract bounce that most legspinners cannot generate. Jeshwant saw Kumble develop at Karnataka and identified similar qualities in Punja’s action once his lateral flexion issues were corrected.
