🏏IPL 2025 - Match 28: RR vs RCB, 13 April 2025 @ 3:30 PM IST🏏

🏏IPL 2025 - Match 28: RR vs RCB at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur on 13 April 2025 @ 3:30 PM IST🏏

RCB look to continue super away run as RR finally find their way home

Rajasthan Royals will have Wanindu Hasaranga available for selection against RCB

RR, RCB look to bounce back from defeats

If adapting to one home venue has been a challenge for some of the teams, imagine being in Rajasthan Royals' (RR) shoes - they have to adapt to two. After completing their initial matches in Guwahati, they return to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur, nearly three weeks into IPL 2025, hoping to bounce back from an inconsistent start.

And they run into a team, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), that has been in exceptional away form: they beat Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede for the first time in ten years, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Chepauk for the first time in 17 years, and have also taken down defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at Eden Gardens.

RCB average 39.6 per wicket and score at 10.5 an over when on the road, while at home, these numbers come down to 22.1 and 8.3, respectively. With the ball, too, they have shown great control (average 21.2) when away, as against a leaky 56.4 at home. They had time to acclimatise during their travels earlier this season but they face a short turnaround now. It's only been two nights since their loss to Delhi Capitals (DC).

RR, too, suffered a tough loss to Gujarat Titans (GT), but their bowling jigsaw is slowly coming together. Their powerplay bowlers have improved as the season has progressed, with Jofra Archer looking far more potent. Sandeep Sharma has also been a lot more consistent and, crucially, has the wood over Virat Kohli, having dismissed him more often than any other bowler in the IPL - seven times in 16 innings.

Apart from those sub-plots, the Indian firepower on offer from the two sides could make this a compelling contest: Sanju Samson, Riyan Parag, Nitish Rana and Dhruv Jurel on one side, and Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar and Jitesh Sharma on the other.

[Tag and Logo credit to Wildestdreams]

In the spotlight: Jofra Archer and Liam Livingstone

Jofra Archer has found his rhythm in the last few matches, consistently bowling at speeds in the upper 140s kph and showing hostility with the new ball. After a poor start - he went at 16.8 runs per over in his first two games - Archer has redeemed himself by taking five wickets in the three subsequent matches, maintaining a much-improved economy rate of 6.2.

Liam Livingstone started the season with plenty of promise with bat and ball but has suffered a slump since. He is coming off scores of 0 and 4 in his last two games. With the ball, he has bowled two overs across the last three matches. RCB would hope for a revival from Livingstone to shore up what has otherwise been a robust middle-order.

Pitch and conditions

The temperature in Jaipur can go up to about 38 degrees Celsius, which will make this an energy sapping afternoon game (3.30pm start). The challenge for the curators would be to ensure the surface isn't too dry, unless that's the instruction from the home team, which, going by the events at the IPL this season so far, may or may not be heeded.

RR vs RCB: Sawai Mansingh Stadium pitch report

The challenge for the curators at Sawai Mansingh Stadium would be to ensure the surface isn't too dry under the searing Jaipur heat, especially for a day game.

RR vs RCB: Jaipur weather report

The temperature in Jaipur is expected to be unforgiving for the players in the day game (3:30pm IST start). The mercury is expected to reach as high as 37-38 degrees Celsius with no rain to offer respite.

Stats and trivia

• Kohli is one fifty away from becoming just the second batter after David Warner to reach 100 T20 half-centuries. He's also one short of matching Warner's record of 66 IPL fifties.
• RR boast the best powerplay run rate this season - 10.7 per over.
• Kohli is RCB's all-time highest run-scorer with 8614 runs. No other Indian features in the top six before we find Rahul Dravid (1132 runs). Patidar and Padikkal are just 15 and 37 runs away, respectively, from getting to the 1000-run mark.

Quotes

"We'd like to stick in and respect the conditions and do what the condition requires. We don't want to end up being a team that's only good at defending totals. We also want to win games while chasing, not just while batting first."

RR captain Sanju Samson on the need for his team to adapt

"No, nothing like that. I really like it when he (Kohli) gives ideas. I've never felt that he does captaincy on the field."

RCB captain Rajat Patidar was asked if the former captain was still a captain in any way

RR vs RCB: Head-to-head

Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Rajasthan Royals have a close head-to-head record. In the 32 IPL matches between them, RCB have won 15 and RR have won 14 with three ending without an outcome.

In IPL 2024, RR did a double over RCB. The reverse was true in IPL 2023 where RCB triumphed in both their games. Go back to IPL 2022 and there was a third clash between these two, in the playoffs, where RR had come out top.

Head to Head - Last 5 Matches

RR won by 4 wickets (with 6 balls remaining), 23-May-2024

RR won by 6 wickets (with 5 balls remaining), 07-Apr-2024

RCB won by 112 runs, 14-May-2023

RCB won by 7 runs, 23-Apr-2023

RR won by 7 wickets (with 11 balls remaining), 28-May-2022

Batters to watch(Recent stats)

Riyan Parag, RR

10 M • 272 Runs • 38.86 Avg • 143.91 SR

Sanju Samson, RR

10 M • 238 Runs • 26.44 Avg • 135.22 SR

Virat Kohli, RCB

10 M • 427 Runs • 47.44 Avg • 159.32 SR

Rajat Patidar, RCB

10 M • 370 Runs • 37 Avg • 169.72 SR

Bowlers to watch(Recent stats)

Sandeep Sharma, RR

9 M • 8 Wkts • 9 Econ • 24.75 SR

Tushar Deshpande, RR

5 M • 7 Wkts • 10.53 Econ • 14.57 SR

Yash Dayal, RCB

10 M • 13 Wkts • 8.97 Econ • 15.23 SR

Josh Hazlewood, RCB

5 M • 8 Wkts • 8.65 Econ • 14.12 SR

The IPL's arrival in Jaipur may be a bit delayed, but it couldn't have come at a better time for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. A change of venue might offer some relief from a home ground that's offered little of late. With two more losses added to their tally at the Chinnaswamy this season, the team now holds the unwanted record for most defeats at a single venue. While Dinesh Karthik has politely asked for "good pitches," it's hard to say if that alone will reverse the trend. The answers, if any, remain elusive. At least for now.

The Sawai Mansingh Stadium gives RCB a chance to once again pick up their campaign, which has looked far more impressive away from the Bengaluru air. Wins in Kolkata, Chennai, and Mumbai were iconic in their own right, coming on the back of impressive performances of their middle order that's long been a weak link. And while Jaipur hasn't been the fortress it once was, it offers a real shot at two points against a side for whom the venue is just as unfamiliar, especially with this being their first game at the ground following a major squad overhaul.

Hosts Rajasthan Royals have had a stop-start run too, with two wins on the bounce followed by a heavy hammering in their last outing. But maybe it's not the worst thing that they haven't started too well, given their recent habit of flying out of the blocks and then fading away. In IPL 2024, they won eight of their first nine games, only to lose four in a row before their final league match was washed out. The same pattern showed up in 2023: four wins in their first five, followed by just three in their next nine.

As for RCB, they might not need to rely on home comforts as much if they keep winning on the road. But first, they'll need their bowling to regroup after the defeat to Delhi Capitals. And then there's the small matter of Jofra Archer charging in against a batting unit that doesn't mind pace. Who wins this one?

When: Match 28, IPL 2025, Sunday April 13, at 03:30 PM local

Where: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur

What to expect: The venue had the worst average and strike rate for pacers among all IPL grounds over the last two editions, but how the pitches behave this year remains to be seen. It's expected to be a hot day in Jaipur, with temperatures touching 37 degrees in the evening. No rain is forecast. The average first-innings score across 10 matches in the last two seasons is 180. And the win-loss record is evenly split, with five wins each for teams batting first and second.

Team news

Rajasthan Royals

Injuries/Availability: There are concerns around the availability of Wanindu Hasaranga, who pulled out of the last match due to personal reasons.

Tactics and Matchups: Wristspinners versus RCB's middle order will be a contest to watch. Heading into their last match, RCB's No. 4 to 7 had hit the most sixes among all teams this season, but in the loss to Delhi Capitals, they managed just one (with Tim David, notably, coming in at No. 8). It was spin that did the damage on a surface that offered assistance and a lot will depend on how the likes of Hasaranga, if he plays, and Kartikeya fare against this middle order.

Probable XII: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson(c), Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga/ Fazalhaq Farooqi, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Kumar Kartikeya

Royal Challengers Bengaluru

Injuries/Availability: The entire squad is available to pick from.

Tactics and Matchups: The Rajasthan Royals have struggled in the middle overs (overs 7-15), having lost 18 wickets during this phase in the IPL so far. Legspinner Suyash Sharma has consistently put the scoring brakes for RCB in their last two games while their strong pace attack could chip in with a few quiet overs.

Probable XII: Philip Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar(c), Liam Livingstone/ Jacob Bethell, Jitesh Sharma(w), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal, Suyash Sharma