• Home
  • Cricket News
  • Ipl 2021 Rr Vs Pbks Low Key In Profile But High On Ambition Another Battle Of Wicket Keeper Captains Await

IPL 2021 | RR vs PBKS: Low-key in profile but high on ambition, another battle of wicket-keeper captains await

Abhishek Singh

They might not be as chirpy as a Rishabh Pant or famous and cool as MS Dhoni, but the captains of Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings have an aura of themselves. Much like their team profiles, they are also lowkey but have high ambitions. While Sanju Samson is looking to get into the Indian team, KL Rahul on the other hand also had a very bad England series as far as T20Is are concerned and would look to utilise this IPL as a place to cement his name in the Indian T20 set up before the World Cup. 

Missing Archer shouldn't be an excuse for Rajasthan

The best thing about the Rajasthan Royals over the year has that they have been eternal underdogs although it has not helped them as an inspiration to sneak into the Playoffs since the 2018 edition. In fact, they languished at the bottom of the points table in the last two seasons.

What has worked against them in the last few seasons is the absence of their marquee players. However, they must now be attuned to it as the trend is set to be continued with their MVP from the last season —Jofra Archer set to be out of action for some time this season as well.  

But, what is a hero if he doesn’t rise from adversities to get to the top of life? This is exactly what is required of each and every member of the Royals setup. 

With a new coach and new captain in Kumara Sangakkara and Samson, the Jaipur team would want the likes of Ben Stokes, Jos Buttler, David Miller along with the most expensive buy this season, Chris Morris to ‘halla bol’ on their oppositions, and what better than the Punjabis to start with. 

All ingredients assembled, Punjabis ready to serve a spicy curry

Punjabis are known for their heavy-duty approach. They are loud and entertaining but most importantly they are also known for pulling a rabbit out of their hat when needed the most. 

Sadly though, the team from Punjab has been a complete contrast of all those traits since the past six seasons. The last season was somewhat better as they missed the cut to Playoffs by just a few inches. Now, they have what they badly needed- an aggressive top-order batter in the form of number one T20I batsman Dawid Malan and a super quick, hit the deck bowler in Australian Riley Meredith.

Along with those X-factor players, they also have Shahrukh Khan, a big-hitting late order batsman to give the finish alongside Nicholas Pooran. 

So, Punjab have it all that can enable them to go bonkers this season, but the big question of will they be able to deliver remains relevant ahead of the 14th season of the IPL.

Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings: Match Details

Match Number-04

Date and Time: April 12, 07:30 pm IST, 02: 00 pm GMT

Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai

Broadcast and Live Stream; Star Sports and Hotstar

Pitch Report

The pitch at Mumbai, as evident from the first game played between Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals, is a run-heavy wicket. Even 200 is not safe, but as a bowling side in the first innings, the team has chances to create some difficulties for the batting side in the wee hours of the match, utilising the sea breeze before dew comes down to settle all the elements of the surface.

Weather and Toss

The dew has been heavy at Wankhede. Conditions have been a bit humid as well, but not as much as expected from Mumbai. The temperature is going to be relatively low and would deep below 30 as the night progresses. 

The team winning the toss would go for a field first approach as MS Dhoni also said that the first half an hour is the only team that bowlers might get some help on that bounce friendly red soil wicket. 

Team News

Rajasthan Royals

The absence of David Miller and Jofra Archer have solved the riddle for the team management on who the four overseas players should be. They would most probably go with Buttler, Stokes, Morris and Andrew Tye. Mustafizur Rahman could have been an option, but most likely he is undergoing quarantine. 

The management can also go for an in form Liam Livingstone in place of Andrew Tye. However, Tye's box of tricks is too tempting an option to be overlooked, more so in the absence of Jofra Archer.

Strongest XI

Liam Livingstone, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson (c/wk), Ryan Parag, Shivam Dube, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Jaidev Unadkat, Shreyas Gopal, Kartik Tyagi

Punjab Kings

The Punjab Kings have the luxury of selecting a full-strength team in the tier opening game of the season. However, they are likely to go with Malan, Meredith, Pooran and Jhye Richardson to start with. 

Among Indian talents, Shahrukh Khan seems to be a certain starter in the playing XI.

Strongest XI

KL Rahul(c/wk), Mayank Agarwal, Dawid Malan, Mandeep Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Riley Meredith, Murugan Ashwin

Dream XI predictions / Fantasy XI suggestions

Jos Buttler (c), Sanju Smason, Lokesh Rahul, Nicholas Pooran, Mayank Agarwal, Dawid Malan(vc), Liam Livingstone, Ben Stokes, Ravi Bishnoi, Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith

Discover more

Top Stories
news

SRH vs KKR: Can Lockie Ferguson play alongside Cummins? Eoin Morgan faces tough selection calls

As the Kolkata Knight Riders are starting their IPL 2021 campaign against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, skipper Eoin Morgan has a tough call to take on the composition of the bowling attack. They have magnificent options in terms of express fast bowlers who can provide the cutting edge advantage to the bowling line up against a very solid looking Sunrisers Hyderabad batting line up. Their big purchase Pat Cummins is all set to play in the opening encounter, while there will be a temptation in the leadership group to also include Lockie Ferguson who proved his credentials in the last seasons of the league. Interestingly, he had made his debut for the Knight Riders last year in the contest against the Sunrisers only and produced a match-winning performance with the ball. In the main game, he picked up three big wickets of Kane Williamson, Priyam Garg and Manish Pandey to leave the Sunrisers in tatters chasing a modest target of 164. Then, he took just three balls in the super over to dismiss both David Warner and Abdul Samad to wipe Sunrises completely out of the contest. Going into their first game of the season, will Eoin Morgan show the appetite for risk and play an explosive bowling attack with both Cummins and Ferguson in it? However, opting for Ferguson will tie in hands into picking only one among the trio of Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, and Andre Russell. Leaving any of them will jeopardise the overall balance of the team, more so in the case of excluding Shakib Al Hasan or Russell.

news

Jofra Archer's absence a 'big blow' for us: Kumar Sangakkara

Rajasthan Royals pacer Jofra Archer will be missing at least four matches for the franchise after undergoing a finger surgery. The RR Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara has admitted that it’s a huge blow for the team but he is confident that the Indians bowlers would fill in the void for the seamer. "Sanju and I will both agree that it's a big blow for us. Jofra is a very vital part of our make-up and not to have him is unfortunately the reality of it. We have to work around it and plan contingencies," Sangakkara told PTI during a virtual press conference on Sunday. Sangakkara further suggested that fast bowling isn’t an easy task and the tracks have been helpful for the batsmen so far. "Inexperience can probably work for you and it could mean that opposition hasn't seen you either. Fast bowling in IPL is not an easy task and we saw that yesterday (Delhi Capitals vs Chennai Super Kings) as well," Sangakkara said. "Most of the wickets are good for batting. So, you have to be quite skilful. We have Kartik Tyagi, who did pretty well last season in patches and this year we have new additions (pacer) Kuldeep Yadav (Jr) and Chetan Sakariya," he added. RR will begin the IPL 2021 quest against Punjab Kings on Monday in Chennai. The Royals have been crowned the IPL champions only once in the inaugural edition of the tournament after they defeated CSK in the final under Shane Warne’s captaincy and would be looking for some fruitful results in this season.

news

IPL 2021: Eoin Morgan feels Shakib Al Hasan's inclusion will add variety to the squad

Kolkata Knight Riders start their iPL 14 campaign with a high-octane clash against the Sunrisers Hyderabad. Ahead of the third game of the tournament, KKR skipper Eoin Morgan spoke at length with the official KKR website and decoded some of his plans and what they aspire to do in this season to turn their fortunes around. Morgan who was handed over the captaincy reigns midway through the last season feels that the inclusion of Shakib Al Hasan will provide a different dynamic to the team especially given the fact that all teams will be playing in neutral venues. Shakib returned to KKR after he was bought in the Mini-Auctions for Rs 3.2 crores. "Shakib Al Hasan gives us a different dynamic in the team," Morgan told kkr.in. "Given that we play at different venues where the conditions change quite a lot, you have a spin-bowling allrounder who had success in international cricket and IPL at different stages. If called upon, he can definitely deliver." I think considering the possible holes we had in our squad last year, we had a very good auction this year, made some good recruitment decisions and managed to get people on board with a small budget, giving us a lot more depth around the squad," Morgan added. Over the years, spin bowling all-rounder Sunil Narine has been an asset for the two-time champions. However, he has been far from his best in the last couple of occasions and had to warm the benches for quite a few matches last season. In that regard, Shakib can be a good like for like replacement for Narine. The Caribbean spinner was also reported for suspect action last season and put him in the warning list which effectively meant that he could have been suspended from bowling if he was reported again. However given the aura surrounding Narine, Morgan believed in his abilities and Narine did live up to his expectations on a few occasions. "In big moments of the game, particularly last year, you would throw Sunil the ball or you would get him in with the bat because he has been in that situation over and over again; he believes in himself and in the team to go and get through and win that situation," Morgan said.