Rajasthan Royals will lock horns with Punjab Kings in the 4th match of IPL 2021 in Mumbai on 12th April, Monday. Only three matches have been played in this tournament yet and all of them have been mouth-watering exciting clashes. This one also promises to be an absolute cracker.
Rajasthan Royals were poor last season getting the wooden spoon. They will certainly hope to put all of that behind them and start fresh and get off to a winning start. Punjab Kings, on the other hand, will hope that a change in their name results in their fortune change as well. They started last season poorly but really picked up and played well in the second half. They were unlucky to miss out on the playoff spot in 2020 and they as well will hope to win this one to gain momentum.
From being blamed for a slow innings to a match-winning 53 of 31. Rahul Tewatia’s 5 sixes vs Cottrell still seems so fresh. Rajasthan Royals have their best player from last season back in the team. He single-handedly won them a couple of games and they will be hoping he continues his form this year. Other than him, the Rajasthan batting has some serious power hitters and great batsmen from England like Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes. We will certainly see Ben Stokes batting up the order this year. Sanju Samson will have an added pressure of captaincy but with the added responsibility he may do well this year.
Punjab Kings on the other hand have certainly tried to strengthen their middle-order this year. Their batting will revolve completely around their skipper KL Rahul. Last year’s Orange Cap winner was criticized heavily for his poor strike rate and slow approach. Punjab’s success will heavily rely on how freely Rahul bat. Other than that they have young Mayank Agarwal who will be opening alongside the Punjab skipper. Nicholas Pooran had an on-off season in 2020 and the management will be hoping he can fire consistently. The Universe Boss will certainly be seen batting at number 3 towering sixes left right and center.
Talking about the bowling Jofra Archer will be a huge miss for Rajasthan Royals. With Archer out, Andrew Tye will be getting some game time and will be hoping to make the most of the opportunity. Rajasthan will also be backing the Indian quicks like Karthik Tyagi and Jaydev Unadkat. Shreyas Gopal has become such an important part of their team and Rajasthan will be hoping he can continue to make the batsman to his tunes.
If the Punjab Kings bowling is to be talked about Mohammed Shami will be back as their strike bowler and he may be joined by Jhye Richardson to lead the attack. They will be relying on Ravi Bishnoi and Murugan Ashwin in their spin department. They also have Chris Jordan who can play ahead of Richardson in a few matches.
Head to Head: Rajasthan Royals vs Punjab Kings
Total Matches: 21
Punjab won: 9
Rajasthan won: 12
Pitch and Weather Conditions
The weather for this game is going to be hot with the temperature being in the thirties. It is going to be extremely humid. Although there was a slight drizzle last time in Mumbai in match number 2 this time there is no chance of rain this time around. The pitch is expected to be a high-scoring one with the due setting in the latter half it is going to be difficult to grip the ball later and will be easier for the batsman in the second half.
Average 1st innings score: 166
Team Batting first has won: 36
Team Batting second has won: 38
Team News
Rajasthan will be under their new captain Sanju Samson and it is going to be a test for him. They will be missing Jofra Archer who was injured in the recently concluded India vs England series. Mustafizur Rahman and David Miller will not be featuring in this match as they are still completing their mandatory 7-day quarantine.
Punjab have no injuries but they certainly need to find the right balance in their playing 11 if they want to go all the way this year
Squads
Rajasthan Royals- Sanju Samson (C), Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Christopher Morris, Shivam Dube, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman, Liam Livingstone, K.C. Cariappa, Akash Singh, Kuldip Yadav.
Punjab Kings-KL Rahul (C), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkane, Deepak Hooda, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel, Mandeep Singh, Murugan Ashwin, Prabhsimran Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Sarfaraz Khan, Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabien Allen, Saurabh Kumar.
