Sitting fifth on the table Rajasthan Royals lock horns with sixth placed Kolkata Knight Riders as Shreyas Iyer-led side won the toss and opetd to bowl first in their IPL match on Monday (April 18).
Meanwhile as far as playing XIs are concerned, Shivam Mavi came in for Aman Khan for KKR while RR made three changes as Karun Nair, Obed McCoy and Trent Boult were included in place of Rassie, Kuldeep and Neesham.
"We'll bowl first. The wicket looks amazing and hard. One side seems short and one is long, so that's another reason why we want to chase. It's something we thrive on. We just practise a lot in the nets, we've seen the videos and have had chats in the meetings. Important to execute what we've discussed in the meetings. We've got one change - Shivam Mavi comes in for Aman Khan. They (overseas stars) have been excellent for KKR in recent years, it's gonna be important for us that they perform but also the domestic players need to step up," KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer said before the match.
"We would have also liked to bowl first, but need to be ready to do both. Our team is well set to do both. New venue for us, and we need to understand conditions quickly. Everyone has to contribute to whatever is the team's requirement, the talk is always about understanding the situation and being smarter. Everyone is looking to contribute, but failures are accepted. We're looking forward with a positive mindset. Three changes - Karun Nair, Obed McCoy and Trent Boult come in; Rassie, Kuldeep and Neesham are out," RR captain Sanju Samson said.
KKR were beaten by Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad by 44 runs and seven wickets respectively in their last two matches. They had earlier lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore. With three wins and three losses, KKR are at the mid-table while the Royals have won three matches and lost two games till now.
The Royals, on the other hand, will start as favourites in the match with the tournament's highest run-getter and wicket-taker in their ranks in Jos Buttler and Yuzvendra Chahal. Chahal has been in top form with 12 wickets from five matches, also with a fine economy of 6.80 and he would fancy to add more scalps to his name, especially against a struggling KKR batting unit.
Meanwhile, it was on this day, 15 seasons ago, that Indian cricket changed drastically and dramatically as April 18 marks the birthday of IPL.
Pitch report
"It's a proper cricket ground, one square boundary is long at 79m while the other is short at 66m, huge pockets at either ends as well. This is a beautiful wicket, has lots of grass on it, very hard and could be a high-scoring game. A batting paradise, bowlers will hope that there'll be now dew," reckons Matthew Hayden in his pitch report
Rajasthan Royals' playing XI:
Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Karun Nair, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Kolkata Knight Riders' playing XI:
Venkatesh Iyer, Aaron Finch, Shreyas Iyer(c), Nitish Rana, Andre Russell, Sheldon Jackson(w), Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy.
