IPL 2024: Rajasthan Royals opt to bat first against Punjab Kings

Guwahati: The Rajasthan Royals have won the toss and elected to bat first against the Punjab Kings at the Barsapara Stadium.

The Royals will be eyeing a win over the Punjab Kings who have already been eliminated from playoff contention. They will be missing the services of one of their most crucial player, Jos Buttler as they look to figure out how to fill the gap left by the 2022 Orange cap winner.

“This is a second home for us, we have spend quite a bit of time here. We spent two days to assess on whether there is dew, and there isn't any. The team, the batting and bowling unit are doing great. Everyone is chill and we are excited to come out and play a great game of cricket,” said RR skipper Sanju Samson.

The Punjab Kings on the other hand have also been handed a handicap due to most english players having left the side before the end of the season in preparation for the 2024 T20 World Cup.

“Tonight we play a really good team, and we can spoil a few campaigns now and finish with some pride. We've had a really good squad but some of those games we didn't win the big moments. We are about 2-3 wins away from qualifying and we aren't there because we didn't capitalize on the big moments,” said PBKS captain Sam Curran

Playing XIs:

Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Prabhsimran Singh, Jonny Bairstow, Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma(w), Sam Curran(c), Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

Substitutes: Tanay Thyagarajan, Rishi Dhawan, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Singh Bhatia

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Rovman Powell, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal

Substitutes: Nandre Burger, Tanush Kotian, Keshav Maharaj, Kuldeep Sen, Donovan Ferreira