Squads –
RR –
Steve Smith (c), Ankit Rajpoot, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Sanju Samson, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Akash Singh, Anirudha Joshi, Anuj Rawat, Andrew Tye, David Miller, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Oshane Thomas, Robin Uthappa, Tom Curran, Yashasvi Jaiswal
KXIP –
KL Rahul (c & wk), Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Darshan Nalkande, Krishnappa Gowtham, Hardus Viljoen, Harpreet Brar, Jagadeesha Suchith, Karun Nair, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Murugan Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Chris Jordan, Deepak Hooda, Glenn Maxwell, Ishan Porel, James Neesham, Prabhsimran Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Sheldon Cottrell, Tajinder Dhillon
Team News –
RR –
– RR started their IPL 2020 journal beating the fan favourites CSK by 16 runs in what was a six hitting festival which witnessed as many as 33 sixes Which included 17 from the Royals.
– Jos Buttler will be available for this game and will enter the XI without any fuss.
– Steven Smith, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran and Jofra Archer will be their 4 foreign players.
– Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler will open the Innings. Jaiswal has been in excellent form in the recently played u19 world cup where he was the leading run scorer. He failed last game but will keep his place. Buttler is back and will open.
– Sanju Samson will bat in 1 down. Sanju was dealing only in sixes the other where he smashed 74 runs with as many as 9 biggies.
– Steven Smith will bat 2 down. Smith has been a consistent player throughout but plays a bit slow. Smith opened last game amd played a brilliant knock of 69.
– Riyan Parag and Tom Curran have to play the roles of finishers. Parag played some good knock last season and will also bowl.
– Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewatia will bowl spin for Royals. Riyan Parag and Steven Smith can assist them if needed.
– Tom Curran, Jofra Archer and Jaydev Unadkat will lead the pace attack. Jofra and Curran will bowl in death.
KXIP –
– Punjab after loosing the super over against the Capitals won their 2nd game one sided against RCB with KL Rahul scoring a ton and both Leggie sharing 3 Wickets each.
– Glenn Maxwell, Jimmy Neesham, Nicolas Pooran and Sheldon Cottrell will be their likely 4 foreign players to start.
– Rahul will open with Mayank Agrawal. Both have played from Karnataka in domestic circuit and knows each other quite well. Rahul scored a brilliant 126 last game and both Mayank and Rahul are in leading scorers list this season.
– Nicolas Pooran will bat at 1 down. He is a exciting talent and has the ability to clear the fence with ease. He scored 17 runs last game.
– Karun Nair and Glenn Maxwell will bat 2 down and 3 down respectively. Their middle order which was looking quite weak has been strengthened by arrival of Maxwell.
– Sarfaraz/Mandip will play the role of finisher along with Jimmy Neesham. Neesham can be promoted any day fir his big hitting ability.
– Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi and Glenn Maxwell will lead the spin attack. Both the leggies were excellent last game picking 6 Wickets together.
– Mohammad Shami and Sheldon Cottrell will lead the pace attack. Jimmy Neesham will assist them.
Probable XI –
RR –
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(wk), Steve Smith (c), Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag, Tom Curran, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat.
KXIP –
KL Rahul(C & wk ), Mayank Agrawal, Karun Nair, Nicolas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Mandip Singh/Sarfaraz Khan, Jimmy Neesham, Murugan Ashwin, Sheldon Cottrell, Mohammad Shami, Ravi Bishnoi.
Pitch Report –
Sharjah Cricket Stadium, Sharjah
The Sharjah ground has very small boundaries and pitches also are batting favourable resulting in a high scoring encounter.
Average Score : 166
Team Blueprint –
WK –
Jos Buttler ( Opener, international opener, 311 runs in 8 games IPL 2019 including 3 50+ scores, Must have)
L Rahul( Opener + wk, currently best T20 Batsman in world cricket, 126* last game, Must C/VC)
N Pooran( 1 down, very hard hitting batsman, failed last game but a excellent pick even in small leagues)
Sanju Samson ( 1 down, can bat at any position according to situation, SR of 150 in IPL, 74(32b) with 9 sixes last game)
BAT –
Chris Gayle( Opener, no intro needed, played his last t20 in BPL 2019, didn’t played 2 games, can a punt pick if plays)
Steve Smith ( 2 down, opened last game, very consistent, 4000+ t20 runs at Average of 32, 69R last game)
Robin Uthappa ( middle order, very experienced, 4400+ IPL runs in 177 games, useless pick as Batting very low )
David Miller( 2 down, 6000+ T20 runs including 3 100s , ignored by lot today, high chances of not playing)
Mayank Agrawal(Open, SR of 142 last IPL , excellent player of spin , 89(60), 26(20b) last 2 game, Must have )
Mandeep Singh( Middle order, very good Syed Mushtaq trophy with 3 50+ scores striking at 155)
Sarfaraz ( middle order, can be used as a floater for hitting, very good domestic form)
Y Jaiswal ( Opener, young takent, highest scorer in u19 WC, 400 runs at average of 133, failed last game, Punt pick this game)
ALL –
Glenn Maxwell ( 2 down+ 2-3 overs of off spin, century against England recently, failed with bat but 1w with ball against RCB )
R Tewatia ( Leggie, bowls with relly good variations, 3 Wickets last game, must at 8cr)
Riyan Parag ( Middle order + Reg Break, 160 runs + 2 Wickets in just 7 games last season, good choice in SL too)
K Gowtham ( Off spin + late hitting, SR of 166 in t20s, decent bowler , poor last IPL with just 1 Wicket, didn’t played last game)
BOWL –
Jofra Archer ( Right Arm fast, one of best bowlers in world cricket, 9 Wickets against aus recently in 6 games, 27R(8b) + 1w last game, Must have will bowl in death )
Tom Curran ( Right Arm fast + hard hitter of ball, 153w + 900 runs in 123 t20 games, 1w last game, will bowl in death )
S Cottrell ( Left arm fast, known for his pace and bounce, 2 Wickets last game against RCB )
M Shami ( Right Arm fast, hit the deck bowler, Wicket taker, 19 Wickets last IPL, 5 Wickets last 2 games, Must have)
Chris Jordan ( Right Arm Medium Fast, best death bowler currently in world cricket, will likely miss)
Ishan Porel ( Medium pacer, 13 t20 Wickets in 13 games, u19 player, got good pace)
Shreyas Gopal ( Leggie, best bowler of RR, 20 Wickets in 14 games last IPL, Must have )
Jaydev Unadkat ( Left arm fast, known for his variations in death, experienced, 77 IPL Wickets )
Ravi Bishnoi( Leggie, bowls fast spin, excellent domestic record, 3 Wickets last game )
Murugan Ashwin( Leggie, bowls most of his deliveries as googly, 3 Wickets last game )
C/VC Options –
RR –
Jos Buttler
Steven Smith
Sanju Samson
Y Jaiswal ( GL)
KXIP –
KL Rahul
Mayank Agrawal
Mohammad Shami
