The match between RR and PBKS will be played at Mumbai on April 12.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, none of the participating franchises will play a match at their home grounds and all matches will be played at neutral venues.
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The IPL 2021 will be played across six cities- Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, and Bengaluru. Ahmedabad will also host the playoffs and the final of the IPL 2021 on May 30.
This match is a battle between two teams who failed to live up to the expectations they had set for themselves last year and would like to move on to the next level and TEAM COC presents the Predicted Playing XIs for the RR v PBKS match in Mumbai.
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
The RR team had finished with the wooden spoon in the IPL 2020 much to the dismay of their fans and probably to the team management as well. They didn’t get going in the tournament and despite trying to make a late rush for the playoffs, the earlier losses were just too much for them to overcome.
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In the auction, the RR team targeted a backup for Jofra Archer, who in fact may miss the entire tournament after undergoing surgery. And RR bid successfully for Chris Morris for Rs 16.25 Crs making him the most expensive player in IPL history.
The RR also went for Shivam Dube for Rs 4.4 Crs, Mustafizur Rahman for Rs 1 Crs, Liam Livingstone for Rs 1 Cr, and other players like Chetan Sakariya, KC Cariappa, Akash Singh, and Kuldip Yadav.
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Captain Sanju Samson is expected to bat at no.4 with Riyan Parag at 4 and Jos Buttler at no. 5. Shivam Dube, Rahul Tewatia, and Chris Morris are expected to be playing as finishers for the RR team. Tewatia is also expected to team up with Shreyas Gopal as the spinners for the team.
Chris Morris will also form the fast bowling department with Mustafizur Rahman and Kartik Tyagi. Sanju Samson will have many bowling options with a long batting lineup at his expense when RR commences its IPL 2021 campaign.
Punjab Kings (PBKS)
The newly named and rechristened Punjab Kings (PBKS) also had a very good IPL 2021 auction. In the IPL 2020, they missed the playoffs due to net run-rate issues thanks to a losing streak in the start of the tournament.
This led to them changing a lot for the team including the name, the kit, and the equipment color as well. In the IPL 2021 auction, PBKS went on a buying spree as they had the deepest purse in the event.
Speaking about their probable playing XI for their opening match of IPL 2021 against Rajasthan Royals, PBKS have a settled batting order with KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal opening the innings and Chris Gayle coming in at no.3 spot.
Mandeep Singh and Nicholas Pooran may come in next at no.4 and 5 batting spots.
This is where the team gets interesting as the new recruits are to be slotted in the playing XI. It is expected that Caribbean all-rounder Fabien Allen and big-hitting Shahrukh Khan might be chosen in the lower middle order.
Ravi Bishnoi had an impressive outing in the IPL 2020 and is expected to hold onto his spot in the XI.
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The match will be an interesting one as both the teams have made quite a few major changes to their squads.
RR COC Predicted Playing XI:
Ben Stokes, Manan Vohra, Sanju Samson (C&WK), Riyan Parag, Jos Buttler, Shivam Dube, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Kartik Tyagi, Mustafizur Rahman
PBKS COC Predicted Playing XI:
KL Rahul (C&WK), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Mandeep Singh, Nicholas Pooran, Fabien Allen, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi