Both Chris Gayle (left) and Sanju Samson are expected to play an important role for their respective teams.
Both Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals will be hoping for a reversal of fortune when they meet in IPL 2021 Match 32 at Dubai International Stadium on Tuesday. In the last 14 years, both teams have only won one trophy — RR's in the inaugural edition of the IPL in 2008 — with play-offs or knockout berths being an aberration since both have spent most of their time in the bottom half of the league.
Punjab Kings (PBKS) Predicted 11
KL Rahul (C/WK), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Adil Rashid, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Mohammed Shami
Rajasthan Royals (RR) Predicted 11
Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (C/WK), Riyan Parag, Shivam Dube, Liam Livingstone, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Chetan Sakariya, Kartik Tyagi, Mustafizur Rahman
Both the teams are laced with in-form top-order batsmen and will be expected to play bigger hands in the match today.
Wicketkeeper (KL Rahul, Sanju Samson)
Both the captains KL Rahul (331 runs in seven games) and Sanju Samson (277 runs) were in prime form before the tournament came to a halt in May and are expected to carry on from where they left on Tuesday evening; making them undisputable starter of their respective outifts.
Batsman (Evin Lewis, Nicholas Pooran, Mayank Agarwal)
WI opener Evin Lewis will be expected to fill in the big hole left by Jos Buttler and the new RR recruit seems a perfect fit for the job given his form in the recently-concluded Caribbean Premier League 2021. The left-handed Trinidadian scored three fifties and a century in the competition for champions St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.
Nicholas Pooran, who scored mere 28 runs in seven games earlier, also returned to form in CPL 2021 with a 75* knock for finalist Guyana Amazon Warriors against Jamaica Tallawahs 10 days ago. Making him a better choice ahead of birthday boy Chris Gayle.
Mayank Agarwal too has been in hot form for PBKS with 260 runs in seven games including two half-centuries.
All-rounder (Liam Livingstone, Chris Morris)
The two all-rounders Liam Livingstone and Chris Morris are favourites to be in the playing XI of Royals. Livingstone has been going gung-ho in various cricket leagues around the globe including his recent exploits in The Hundred and is expected to open the innings with Lewis. Morris, on the other end, has been an integral part of the setup with 14 wickets and is in the race for the purple cap.
Bowler (Chetan Sakariya, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Tabraiz Shamsi)
PBKS will be pinning their hopes on Mohammed Shami to do his magic with the ball. Shami has so far picked 8 wickets in 8 games and will be aiming to get back in the purple cap race soon after a strong England tour. Arshdeep Singh, who picked six wickets in seven matches, and has often been the economic bowler with his stocks of variation. Chetan Sakariya, who suffered personal tragedies during the second wave of COVID-19 in the country earlier, has done the same for Royals with seven wickets in as many games. Tabraiz Shamsi could sneak into the line-up as well with him being the best T20 bowler in the world at the moment.
PITCH REPORT
The pitch at the Dubai International Stadium was pacer-friendly during the Chennai Super Kings vs Mumbai Indians game. It is expected to turn slower like it did earlier as the match progresses with a total of above 160 could be challenging enough to chase down.
WEATHER UPDATES
Dubai weather conditions are expected to be hot and humid on the day with no possibility of rain. The average temperature will hover around 42-degree Celsius.
LIVE STREAMING
You can see the IPL 2021 PBKS vs RR Live Streaming Online on Hotstar and JIOTV, and TV Telecast on Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3, and Star Sports HD channels.
