Steve Smith and Dinesh Karthik
Going as per the trend, Rajasthan Royals captain Steve Smith have opted to bowl first against Kolkata Knight Riders after winning the toss. Neither side made any changes to their playing XI for the Wednesday night clash at the Dubai International Stadium.
"Will have a bowl. That boundary's big, certainly compared to Sharjah which was a postage stamp. Certainly have to adapt. Watched the Super Over the other day. Exciting to play on a different ground. Have played some good cricket. Boys in a good place," said Smith after the toss.
Unfazed over the toss, KKR captain Dinesh Karthik praised the team for their impressive show in their last game.
"Okay with batting first. Looks similar to Abu Dhabi but it plays different. Sharjah is a completely different fish but these two are similar. The brand of cricket we played the other day was something I'm proud of," Karthik said.
Kolkata Knight Riders (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik(w/c), Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy, Kamlesh Nagarkoti
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Jos Buttler(w), Steven Smith(c), Sanju Samson, Robin Uthappa, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Jofra Archer, Tom Curran, Shreyas Gopal, Ankit Rajpoot, Jaydev Unadkat
Rajasthan Royals have so far won both the matches they played in IPL 2020, although both at high-scoring Sharjah. They defeated Chennai Super Kings by 16 runs in their opener before upsetting Kings XI Punjab by four wickets, the match where Rahul Tewatia stole the limelight away from a centurion Mayank Agarwal. Kolkata Knight Riders, on the other hand, lost to Mumbai Indians by 49 runs in Abu Dhabi in their opener before defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets at the same venue. Both will be making their first appearance in Dubai this season.
