By ANI
MUMBAI: Rajasthan Royals skipper Sanju Samson on Monday won the toss and opted to field first against Punjab Kings in game four of the Indian Premier League (IPL) here at the Wankhede Stadium.
At the time of the toss, RR skipper Samson said: “We are going to bowl first. We had challenges while picking the XI. Morris, Stokes, Buttler, and Fizz are our overseas players. Very excited about the role.”
On the other hand, Rahul said: “We all know the history of Wankhede. Everyone wants to bowl first. But we would want to play good cricket. It is about the batting group helping the bowling group and vice-versa. We were really happy with the auctions. Meredith, Richardson, Gayle, and Pooran are our foreign players.”
For Punjab Kings, there are three debutants as Riley Meredith, Jhye Richardson, and Shahrukh Khan have been named in the final playing XI. Universe Boss Chris Gayle handed out a cap to Shahrukh Khan.
Ahead of the first game against Punjab Kings, Rajasthan Royals’ Director of Cricket Kumar Sangakkara had spoken about how the side would give a long rope to its players so that they can succeed and not take too much pressure.
Rajasthan Royals last year opted for quite a few opening pairs with Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes all opening at some stage in IPL 2020. Sangakkara did not reveal who will open the batting this time around, but he did confirm that a long rope would be provided to the players.
Rajasthan Royals Playing XI: Sanju Samson (c), Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Shivam Dube, Manan Vohra, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Shreyas Gopal, Chetan Sakariya, Mustafizur Rahman
Punjab Kings Playing XI: KL Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Jhye Richardson, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Riley Meredith, Arshdeep Singh
