Dubai: The Men in Red, Punjab Kings (PBKS), won the toss against Rajasthan Royals (RR) and opted to field on Tuesday here at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in the 32nd Match of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Batting heavyweight Chris Gayle will miss out in what could be an enthralling contest between the two sides. The Dubai pitch is expected to be sluggish and on the slower side, but still is a batting paradise.
The two IPL teams have been perennial under-achievers in the league and would be desperate to change their fortunes after disappointing one and all with their underwhelming performances over the past few seasons.
More so for Punjab Kings, the only team that has lacked any kind of stability over the 14 seasons of IPL with captains and coaches being changed like musical chairs.
At the toss, Punjab skipper KL Rahul said, "We'll bowl first. It's a no brainer, a fresh wicket with grass on. We don't know how it will play and I prefer chasing. I was just telling a few people in the dressing room that it just felt like yesterday that we were playing IPL 2020. We have a lot that we've learnt from last year. We are all professionals and we have tried hard in the heat to prefer ourselves. Pooran, Markram, Rashid and Allen are our overseas players. Unfortunately, Chris Gayle misses out and Aiden has been in good form coming into our setup from Sri Lanka."
On the other hand, Sanju Samson, Rajasthan's skipper, said, "We are good are chasing and setting totals, so we were happy to do both. We have really great talent and characters in our team. It is a very positive atmosphere. Sangakkara brings in the experience, he knows what to communicate at what point. He just wanted us to relax."
Teams:
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): KL Rahul(w/c), Mayank Agarwal, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Fabian Allen, Ishan Porel, Adil Rashid, Harpreet Brar, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh.
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Evin Lewis, Sanju Samson(w/c), Liam Livingstone, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya, Kartik Tyagi.
