Squads –
RR –
Sanju Samson(C & WK), Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Shivam Dube , Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahim, Chetan Sakariya, KC Cariappa, Liam Livingstone, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh
PBKS –
KL Rahul (C & WK), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel , Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar
Team News –
RR –
– The Royals will start their Royal Journey of 2021 Indian Premier League against the newly Named Punjab Kings.
– Royals have done some good additions during the Auction. They bought in Chris Morris for a whopping 16cr, along with ex Rajastan player Liam Livingston.
– Team’s premium pacer Jofra Archer has been ruled out of the first half of IPL due to a injury.
– Teams likely 4 foreign players will be Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman/Liam Livingston.
– Ben Stokes and Manan Vohra/Liam Livingston will open the innings. Stokes has been excellent when opens. Livingston was striking the ball really hard in the practice game and could get a game.
– Captain Sanju Samson will bat at 1 down. Sanju looked good at the initial stages of the last season but was not consistent.
– Jos Buttler and Riyan Parag/Mahipal Lomror will bat in middle. Buttler can also open with it looks less likely.
– Chris Morris, Rahul Tewatia and Newly Recruit Shivam Dube will form a solid middle order and contribute through both bat and bowl.
– Rahul Tewatia and Shreyas Gopal will lead the spin department.
– Chris Morris, Kartik Tyagi, Ben Stokes and Mustafizur Rahman ( if plays) will form the pace attack of Rajasthan.
PBKS –
– The Kings XI Punjab changed their name to Punjab Kings this year but their fortunes haven’t changed a lot and their journey has been in a constant state of flux.
– Team has done some good additions in their bowling department by buying Jhye Richardson and Speedster Riley Meredith. Team also added No 1 t20 batsman Dawid Malan into the team.
– Teams likely 4 foreign options will be Chris Gayle, Nicolas Pooran, Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith/Chris Jordan.
– KL Rahul and Mayank Agrawal will open the innings for PBKS. Both form a formidable opening pair and attacks from the very first ball.
– Christopher Henry Gayle will bat at 1 down. Gayle needs no introduction amd also has a strong record against the Royals averaging 36.
– Nicolas Pooran will bat at 2 down. Pooran is a very aggressive batsman and attack from word go. He will not keep the wickets.
– Mandeep Singh and Shahrukh Khan will hold the middle order of team. Shahrukh has emerged himself as a finisher in the domestic circuit and has been assigned same role over here.
– Teams middle order is quite weak as they don’t have any proper batsman after this pair.
– Ravi Bhisnoi will be the lone spinner in the team.
– Jhye Richardson, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Riley Meredith/Chris Jordan will lead the pace attack.
Probable XI –
RR –
Ben Stokes, Manan Vohra/Liam Livingston, Sanju Samson(wk), Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag/Mahipal Lomror, Shivam Dube, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Mustafizur Rahman/Andrew Tye, Kartik Tyagi
PBKS –
KL Rahul, Mayank Agrawal, Chris Gayle, Nicolas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Shahrukh Khan, Chris Jordan/Riley Meredith, Mohammad Shami, Jhye Richardson, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
Pitch Report –
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Pitch here generally favours the batsman more as compared to the bowlers. Toss plays a big role here as chasing becomes easier.
H2H Overall : 21
RR Won : 12
PBKS Won : 9
Average Score : 170
Team Blueprint –
WK –
KL Rahul( Open, RHB, highest scorer of IPL from last 2 seasons, 390 runs in 9 innings with an excellent Average of 56 against RR, Must have)
Sanju Samson( 1 down, RHB + wk, averages 512 in 16 innings against the Kings, also was good last season with 375 runs, Must have)
Jos Buttler( Open/2 down, RHB, no intro needed, 361 runs against Punjab at an brilliant Average of 45, surely must pick if opens )
Nicolas Pooran( 2 down, LHB + wk, 353 runs last IPL with a SR of 169, Must have, can be promoted any day)
BAT –
Chris Gayle( 1 down, LHB, universal boss no intro needed, averages 36 with 500 runs against RR, can’t miss him)
Mayank Agrawal( Open, RHB, averages 36 on wankhede Stadium, was brilliant with 424 runs in 11 innings last season, Must have)
D Malan( 1 down, LHB, #1 t20 batsman in world cricket, 148 runs in t20 series against India recently, Must have if plays)
Liam Livingston( Open, RHB + part time leg spin, very aggressive Batsman, career SR of 140 with 3000+ runs, excellent option if plays which is high)
Mandeep Singh( Middle order, RHB, will play as a finisher, 186 runs with a brilliant SR of 140 in syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recently, can be a good differential pick)
Manan Vohra( Open, RHB, very attacking, quite experienced with 2422 t20 runs at a good SR of 130, can be a good gl pick if opens )
Shahrukh Khan( Middle order, RHB, SR of 236 in Syed Mushtaq trophy recently, will play as an finisher)
Sarfaraz Khan( Middle order, RHB, 99 runs in 4 innings against RR, has been out just once against RR )
M Lomror( Middle order, LHB + part time slow left arm bowler, 172 runs in 7 games this Syed Mushtaq trophy, can be a very good differential pick)
Y Jaiswal( Open, LHB, very talented, got just 2 games to play last season, SR was quite low in IPL as well as syed Mushtaq Ali recently)
ALL –
Ben Stokes( Open, LHB + Right Arm medium fast, 132 runs + 6 Wickets against Punjab, 285 runs in 8 games last season including a ton)
Chris Morris( Right Arm Fast + RHB, brilliant hitter + will bowl in death, 11 Wickets in 9 games last season with a brilliant eco of 6.8, 13 Wickets against PBKS )
Rahul Tewatia( LHB + Right Arm leg spin, 255 runs + 10 Wickets last season, SR of 140 from last season)
M Henriques( 2/3 down, RHB + Right Arm medium fast, very highly experienced, 56,43,38,18 in BBL2020, didn’t bowled in BBL, must have if plays)
Shivam Dube( Middle order, LHB + Right Arm medium fast, player for RCB last season, can strike the ball big)
Fabian Allen( Slow left arm + hard hitter , 482 runs + 19 Wickets in t20 with a Batting SR of 157, Must gl pick if plays )
BOWL –
M Shami( Right Arm Fast, India’s premium pacer, 20 Wickets last season, 7 Wickets in 5 games against RR )
Jofra Archer( Will not be available for 1st 4 games)
J Unadkat( Left arm medium fast, bowls in death, goes for a lot of runs ,just 4 Wickets last season)
Chris Jordan( Right Arm medium fast, known for death bowling skills, 9 Wickets last season)
M Rahman( Left arm fast medium, was one of the best death bowlers at some time, experienced with 162 t20 Wickets)
Jhye Richardson( Right Arm Fast, SR of just 17 in t20 cricket, 26 Wickets this BBL , Must have)
Riley Meredith( Right Arm Fast, hit the deck bowler, can bowl upto 150ks, 16 Wickets this BBL, surely a must pick )
Kartik Tyagi( Right Arm Fast medium, hit the deck bowler, was excellent last season with 9 Wickets, Eco was slightly on the higher side with 9.62)
Arshdeep Singh( Left arm medium fast, young talent, 9 Wickets in 8 games last season)
C/VC –
RR –
Ben Stokes
Sanju Samson
Jos Buttler
PBKS –
KL Rahul
Chris Gayle
Mayank Agrawal
Pratik Dusane