🏏IPL 2024: Match 44 - LSG vs RR in Lucknow @ 7:30PM IST🏏 - Page 5

Rajasthan Royals have won the toss and have opted to field

RR is unchanged

Rahul reckons the wicket looks pretty good, and that there is not much dew, leading to an even contest across 40 overs. Now that they have been put into bat, important to get off to a good start and put runs on the board. Says it will be nice to score 200-plus, but he concedes the dimensions of the ground does work in the bowler's favour and makes the game more interesting. Same team for LSG too. Concludes by saying that Padikkal has been looking good in the nets and that everyone goes through such phases, citing the example of Jonny Bairstow yesterday night and how it is important to stay positive.

Sanju Samson - We will bowl first. Looks like a decent wicket to bowl, but no guarantees. This season has been a bit different, some extra days in between games, that gives us time to rest and recover. We're playing the same team. IPL has been completely different, it's normal to get carried away looking at other teams, but the talk in our camp is to stay with the flow, we have been playing some good cricket and we need to continue doing so. I don't need to talk to him, he's been a top professional and has a big role in our plans (on Ravi Ashwin)

Teams:

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal

Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul(w/c), Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Matt Henry, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur

Here are the Impact substitutes for both the teams:

Lucknow Super Giants Impact Subs: Amit Mishra, Arshin Kulkarni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Manimaran Siddharth

Rajasthan Royals Impact Subs: Riyan Parag, Shubham Dubey, Navdeep Saini, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, Tanush Kotian

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Rovman Powell, Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal

Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Quinton de Kock, KL Rahul(w/c), Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Matt Henry, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur

Is Ryan Parag playing???

Originally posted by: WildestDreams

In the spotlight

Quinton de Kock has had a quiet IPL by his standards. He averages just 28.50 after eight innings, and while he's made three fifties, all of them have come at strike rates below 145. LSG would love it if he found some of his old fluency, but the RR attack may present him a stern test: he has T20 strike rates of below 125 against all their key bowlers - Boult, Sandeep, Yuzvendra Chahal and R Ashwin.

He's taken just one wicket in seven matches this season, at an average of 240.00, but R Ashwin will tell you (as he has on his YouTube channel) that wicket-taking is becoming irrelevant in T20. He may be right on one hand, since his economy rate (8.88) is nearly identical to that of Yuzvendra Chahal (8.83), who happens to have taken 13 wickets this season. What is different and possibly worrying is that Ashwin hasn't tied left-hand batters down to his usual extent: his economy rate of 8.68 against left-handers is his worst of any IPL season. LSG could have de Kock, Nicholas Pooran, Krunal Pandya and possibly Devdutt Padikkal in their top eight; can Ashwin dominate his favourite match-up like he's done for so many years?

Thnks fr the tagg ...may the best team win

Toss mil gaya

QDK OUT

B Boult.

Excellent delivery.