Dharamsala, May 19 (IANS) Rajasthan Royals (RR) won the toss and elect to bowl first against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the do-or-die IPL 2023 match at Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, here on Friday.
In a last-minute change, RR spinner Ravichandran Ashwin missed Friday’s game due to a back spasm. On the other hand, PBKS are unchanged.
“We will bowl. Looking at the dimensions and looking at what we require in the tournament, it is better to bowl. We need to win the game. Then see how the other games go. If you want to play good T20 cricket, you need to forget things.
“We have had four to five days off. One has to understand the conditions. We have a couple of changes. Last-minute changes. Ashwin misses out because of a back spasm,” Samson said at the toss.
PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan: “Last match, dew wasn’t much. First batting or second, it shouldn’t change much. We will come and enjoy the game. Will try to give our best shot. We need to take more wickets in the first 6 overs. We can cash in more. We are playing the same team.”
Playing XIs:
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh, Atharva Taide, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh
Substitutes: Nathan Ellis, Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Mohit Rathee, Matthew Short
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (wk/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Adam Zampa, Trent Boult, Navdeep Saini, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal
Substitutes: Dhruv Jurel, Donovan Ferreira, Akash Vasisht, Kuldeep Sen, Murugan Ashwin.
–IANS
bc/bsk
