Punjab Kings will be up against Rajasthan Royals in the 32nd Match of the Indian Premier League at Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Both these teams had a pretty inconsistent run in the first half of the season. Both these teams are neck-to-neck in terms of points table.
KL Rahu led Punjab Kings could muster just three wins from eight games. They are sixth on the points table with 6 points and a NRR of -0.368 from 8 matches. However, they managed to rope in England leg-spinner Adil Rashid to strengthen their bowling. Dawid Malan’s departure will deplete their batting to some extent.
On the other hand, Sanju Samson led Rajasthan Royals have won three and lost four so far. They are fifth on the points table with 6 points and a NRR of -0.190 from 7 matches. The Rajasthan Royals were in huge trouble before the start of the second leg of IPL. They will miss the service of Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes & Jofra Archer for the remaining part of the tournament. However, they have roped in South Africa’s Tabraiz Shamsi, the ICC’s no.1 ranked T20I bowler. Rajasthan Royals have signed Evin Lewis as a replacement who has been in brilliant form in CPL.
The first meeting between the two teams ended in a thriller as Punjab Kings got over the line by just four runs.
PBKS vs RR Dream11 Match Details :
Match Details
Match – Punjab Kings vs Rajasthan Royals – 32nd match
Venue – Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Time – 7:30 PM IST, 02:00 PM GMT
Where to watch live – Star Sports Network, Hotstar
PBKS vs RR Dream11 Match Pitch Report :
The Dubai International Cricket Stadium has generally been a relatively high-scoring venue with ample help on offer for the pacers. There should be enough swing on offer early on to keep the batters on their toes. Both the teams will look to bat first with 170 being a good total at the venue.
Avg first innings score: 170 (Last 27 IPL matches in Dubai)
Record of chasing teams: Won – 10, Lost – 17, Tied – 0
Head-to-Head Records :
Overall
Played – 22 | Punjab Kings– 10 | Rajasthan Royals– 12 |N/R – 0
In the UAE
Played – 3 | Punjab Kings– 1 | Rajasthan Royals– 2 |N/R – 0
PBKS vs RR Dream11 Probable Playing XIs :
Punjab Kings :
- PBKS did not have a great tournament so far having won just 3 games out of the 8 matches that they played.
- They lost against DC in their last outing who have already beaten them twice in this season.
- Punjab need to win most of their games from now onwards if they want to finish in the top 4.
- Lokesh Rahul and Mayank Agarwal will probably open the inning for the Punjab Kings team. Both are very talented players and played many attacking innings in previous matches.
- Chris Gayle, Nicolas Pooran and Deepak Hooda will take care of the middle order.
- Shahrukh Khan will take care of the lower order.
- Lokesh Rahul will lead the Punjab Kings team as a Captain. He will also do wicket keeping for his team.
- Adil Rashid and Murugan Ashwin will take care of the spin bowling of the team.
- Chris Jordan, Mohammed Shami and Arshdeep Singh will lead the pace attack of the team.
Probable Playing XIs : Lokesh Rahul (C and wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Adil Rashid, Mohammad Shami, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh
Rajasthan Royals :
- Royals were in the 5th spot with 3 wins from 7 games that they played.
- They won their last game against Sunrisers Hyderabad and will be looking to go with same momentum.
- They will miss the services of Ben Stokes, Jos Butler in this season who are not playing in the second half.
- Yashasvi Jaiswal and Manan Vohra will probably open the inning for the RR team. Both are well known inning openers.
- Sanju Samson, Liam Livingstone and Riyan Parag will take care of the middle order.
- Sanju Samson will lead the RR team as a Captain. He will also do wicket keeping for his team.
- Rahul Tewatia & Tabraiz Shamsi will lead the spin attack of the team.
- Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman and Chris Morris will take care of the pace attack for his team.
- RR have signed Tabriaz Shamsi as well, the no.1 t20 bowler of the ICC rankings.
Probable Playing XIs : Yashasvi Jaiswal, Manan Vohra , Sanju Samson (C and WK), Liam ivingstone, Riyan Parag, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Rahul Tewatia, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman, Tabraiz Shamsi
PBKS vs RR Dream11 Match Must Pick Choices :
KL Rahul
KL Rahul was superb in the first half of this IPL 2021. The PBKS skipper amassed 331 runs at an average of 66.20 and a strike-rate of 136.21. He recorded four fifties in seven games and hence, he will be a captaincy favorite.
Chris Morris
Chris Morris has been superb with the ball and he has returned with 14 wickets from seven games in this tournament. He is striking once every 11 balls as well. Moreover, he can tonk it around with the bat too. Thus, he could be an effective vice-captaincy pick.
Sanju Samson
Sanju Samson might be a top option as vice-captain. He was the leading run-getter for RR in the first half of this 2021 edition. The RR skipper aggregated 277 runs at an average of 46.16 and is striking at 145.78.
Mayank Agarwal
Mayank Agarwal has been a consistent performer for PBKS over the last few years. The Karnataka-born batsman has scored 260 runs at a strike-rate of 141.30 in this tournament so far.
Mohammed Shami
Mohammed Shami was the best bowler for PBKS in the initial phase of the IPL 2021 and was their leading wicket-taker as well. He picked up eight wickets in as many games at an economy rate of 8.16.
Liam Livingstone
Liam Livingstone is in stellar form this season. He has smashed 1213 runs at an average of 44.93 and has a strike-rate of 157.74 in T20 cricket in 2021. He can even roll his arm over if required.
PBKS vs RR Important Player Battles :
Evin Lewis vs Md. Shami – 42(21) : 1W
Sanju Samson vs Arshdeep Singh – 36(19) : 1W
Liam Livingstone vs Adi Rashid – 51(25) : 1W
KL Rahul vs Chris Morris – 63(34) : 1W
Chris Gayle vs Chris Morris – 63(64) : 4W
Chris Gayle vs Mustafizur Rahman – 23(39) : 1W
PBKS vs RR Match Predictions :
- Rajasthan Royals are expected to win this game.
- KL Rahul and Sanju Samson both are expectecd to play a captain’s knock.
- Chetan Sakariya and Chris Morris to Pick Wickets if RR Bowls first.
- Can make L. Livingstone as GL Captain.
- Today is Chris Gayle Birthday so you can make him Captain.
