Mohali: With just two wins from seven games, Rajasthan Royals (RR) will be desperate for a win when they take on Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) at the I.S. Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Tuesday in order to keep their chances alive of making it to the playoffs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019.
Ajinkya Rahane’s men would also be seeking revenge for their previous loss against the home side when the two teams met on March 25. That match was, however, marred by a controversy when R. Ashwin ‘Mankaded’ England batsman Jos Buttler at a crucial moment in the match that Rajasthan went on to lose.
The manner of the dismissal created ripples across the cricketing fraternity with many former greats criticising the Indian off-spinner for breaching the ‘spirit of the game’. However, Ashwin stated that whatever he did was within the rules of the game and added that his ‘conscience was clear’.
Rajasthan Royals, who are sitting at the second last spot in the points table, would however be feeling a little confident after their win against Mumbai Indians in their last game.
On the other hand, Punjab, who are at the fifth spot in the points table, are coming after facing defeat at the hands of bottom-placed Royal Challengers Bangalore. They would be hoping that the swashbuckling West Indies opener Chris Gayle once again continues his rich form which he displayed against Virat Kohli’s men and contributes to the team’s cause.
Squads:
Kings XI Punjab Squad: Chris Gayle, Moises Henriques, Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh, David Miller, Mohammed Shami, Karun Nair, Lokesh Rahul, Murugan Ashwin, Ankit Rajpoot, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Hardus Viljoen, Andrew Tye, Sam Curran, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Agnivesh Ayachi, Darshan Nalkande, Varun Chakravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Simran Singh, Harpreet Brar
Rajasthan Royals Squad: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Dhawal Kulkarni, Stuart Binny, Steven Smith, Jos Buttler, Varun Aaron, Jaydev Unadkat, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson, Manan Vohra, Prashant Chopra, Ashton Turner, Ish Sodhi, Krishnappa Gowtham, Rahul Tripathi, Shreyas Gopal, Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Mahipal Lomror, Shubham Ranjane, Oshane Thomas, Jofra Archer, Riyan Parag, Aryaman Birla, Sudhesan Midhun
–IANS
