IPL 2021: Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings – Preview, Predicted XIs, Head-to-Head, Live Streaming and Match Prediction
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Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings will face each other in the fourth match of the Vivo IPL 2021 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Monday 12th April, 7:30 pm IST. Both the teams haven’t delivered up to their expectations from the past few seasons.
IPL 2021 Match 4 RR vs PBKS: Preview
Rajasthan Royals
The champions of the first season of IPL Rajasthan Royals haven’t found success after that. They were the holders of the wooden spoon last season despite having one of the dangerous squads in the IPL. RR released their former captain Steve Smith and appointed Sanju Samson as the new leader of the team.
The fierce batting attack they have would be the key aspect for them to perform better this time. Last season, Jofra Archer was the only consistent performer for them as he ended up being the Most Valuable Player. Still, RR finished last on the table owing to underperformance by other bowlers. The lack of planning in the batting order and the inconsistency that came along with it had a huge impact on their failure.
This season they have strengthened their middle order by adding all-rounders like Liam Livingstone, Shivam Dube, and Chris Morris. Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes would most probably open for them and would be vital to provide a flying start which would be followed by Skipper Samson and other batters. The depth in the batting would free the arms of the openers and they can take the advantage of the powerplay.
They faced a huge blow ahead of the IPL as Jofra Archer will miss the IPL for a considerable amount of time due to elbow surgery. They roped in Chris Morris for a whopping 16.5 crores to add another death bowling option alongside Archer but unfortunately, the unavailability of the latter would leave RR in big trouble. Though, Mustafizur Rahman could prove to be an asset for them. The Indian pacers Kartik Tyagi and Jaydev Unadkat would have a lot of responsibility on them to support Morris. The star find for RR last season was Rahul Tewatia who performed brilliantly in both departments.
Rajasthan Royals would keep the ghosts of last season aside and come back stronger under a young captain Sanju Samson.
Punjab Kings
Punjab Kings (earlier, Kings XI Punjab) didn’t have a great start to the IPL 2020 as they only managed to win one match in their first leg but gained some momentum as they won five matches in the next 7. That was not enough for them to make it to the playoffs as they ended up sixth on the points table. The main reason for their failure was a poor performance in the death overs by both batters as well as bowlers. They failed to score quickly in the penultimate overs and were conceding a lot at that time.
There were questions raised on Rahul’s strike rate despite he ending up as the holder of Orange Cap. But with a good and settled middle-order, Rahul can play an attacking brand of cricket from start itself as confirmed by the batting coach of PBKS Wasim Jaffer. PBKS went big at the auction as they roped in the likes of Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Riley Meredith, Shahrukh Khan, Moises Henriques, Fabian Allen, and a few other players.
They have an explosive top order with the likes of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, and Chris Gayle. The addition of the No.1 ranked T20I batsman Dawid Malan will give a good headache to the PBKS management to fit him in the XI. Shahrukh Khan would be the player to watch out for as he impressed everyone with his hard-hitting abilities in the domestic circuit.
With the inclusion of Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith in the bowling unit, Punjab would look to overcome the death bowling issues. Both performed exceptionally well in the BBL, where Jhye ended up as the highest wicket-taker. Mohammed Shami who was their prime bowler last season is coming to this IPL after recovering from an elbow injury. The spin twins Bishnoi and Ashwin also performed decently last year.
Overall, both the teams have a decent squad with an explosive batting order. Wankhede stadium is a paradise for batting and with this kind of batsmen in the squad, we can witness a run-fest tomorrow.
IPL 2021 Match 3 RR vs PBKS: Match Details
- Match: Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings, IPL 2021- Match 4
- Date and Time: 12th April, 7:30 pm IST
- Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
- The match between Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings will be streamed live on the Star Sports Network and Disney+ Hotstar VIP.
Weather Report
The weather in Mumbai is expected to be hot and humid as always. The temperature will be around 30 degrees Celsius and is expect to reduce over the course of the match.
Pitch Report
The pitch at Wankhede Stadium is flat and a dream wicket for any batsman to bat on. We witnessed a high-scoring match here between CSK and DC a couple of days ago where the latter chased the target of 189 with ease. Team winning the toss would opt to bowl first.
Predicted Playing XI
Both teams made some smart buys at the auction and it remains to be seen which of the new acquisitions would feature in today’s match.
Rajasthan Royals
- Jos Buttler
- Ben Stokes
- Sanju Samson
- Liam Livingstone
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Riyan Parag
- Rahul Tewatia
- Chris Morris
- Shivam Dube
- Shreyas Gopal
- Karthik Tyagi
Punjab Kings
- KL Rahul
- Mayank Agarwal
- Chris Gayle
- Nicholas Pooran
- Moises Henriques
- Shahrukh Khan
- Arshdeep Singh
- Jhye Richardson
- Ravi Bishnoi
- Murugan Ashwin
- Mohammed Shami
IPL 2021: RR vs PBKS: Head-to-head and Match Prediction
Head to Head (Last 5 matches)
- Rajasthan won by 7 wickets
- Rajasthan won by 4 wickets
- Punjab won by 12 runs
- Punjab won by 14 runs
- Rajasthan won by 15 runs
Match Prediction: Punjab Kings are expected to come out on top against Rajasthan Royals. Both have a similar kind of line up but Punjab edge over with a more decent bowling unit.
Also Read | IPL 2021: Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar opines on MS Dhoni’s batting position against Delhi Capitals
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Mohamed Azhar
(370 Articles Published)