Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants both have been very consistent in the first few days of the IPL 2022 and they seem to have all bases covered when they take on one another at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Coming into this match, Rajasthan Royals have won two out of the three matches played. Their batting is rather top-heavy, but they keep getting the job done and ideally for this match, they could bolster the middle order by replacing Riyan Parag with Jimmy Neesham who will add more balance to the squad with this all-round skills. Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, and Devdutt Padikkal are in form and they would hope young Yashasvi Jaiswal steps up and makes his presence felt.
Their bowling is one of the best in the tournament and in Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna, their new ball attack is well covered. They also have R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal to take care of the spin department. After an off day in the last match against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, Ashwin will be keen to bounce back.
Lucknow Super Giants, on the other hand, have found great momentum. After being defeated by Gujarat Titans in the first match, they have bounced back brilliantly to win three matches on the trot. Their batting has looked solid and bowlers have found their role clarity which makes this match an intriguing affair.
Wankhede Stadium has offered great surfaces this season and as is the norm, the captain winning the toss could well opt to bowl first as dew could play a factor. For LSG, captain KL Rahul needs to step up as the runs have dried up over the last couple of matches. Quinton de Kock has got his mojo back and with the addition of K Gowtham and Jason Holder, the batting is deep and the bowling has variety.
Rajasthan Royals vs Lucknow Super Giants predicted playing XI:
Rajasthan Royals Probable Playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (captain), Shimron Hetmyer, Jimmy Neesham, Ravichandran Ashwin, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna
Lucknow Super Giants Probable Playing XI: KL Rahul (captain), Quinton de Kock, Evin Lewis, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Ayush Badoni, K Gowtham, Jason Holder, Andrew Tye, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan