IPL 2021, Preview: Rajasthan Royals Vs Punjab Kings - Fireworks On The Cards

Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals the two IPL teams with exceptional batting muscle - will look to change their fortunes when they clash in the battle for the fourth spot here on Tuesday. For the reco

For Punjab, Rahul and Mayank Agarwal are expected to open with Chris Gayle. Even at the age of 41, he is unstoppable when on good touch. On Monday, Punjab also posted a video of Gayle sweating it out in the nets, sending a clear warning to the opposition side. It will also be Gayle's 40th match for Punjab after joining the team from Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in 2018.

Punjab have lost a bit of firepower in blowing with Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith choosing not to join them for the IPL's resumption. And while that robs them of express pace - an advantage in any form of cricket -- they still possess bowlers capable of causing problems. Like Nathan Ellis. The 26-year-old death-overs specialist took a hat-trick on T20I debut and is expected to set the IPL alight.

Head-to-head record

The Royals and Punjab have met each other on 22 occasions. Samson's side has won 12 times while Rahul's team has emerged victorious 10 times.

The squads:

Punjab Kings: KL Rahul (capt, wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Shahrukh Khan, Fabian Allen/Adil Rashid, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Mohammed Shami.

Rajasthan Royals: Evin Lewis, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (capt, wk), Liam Livingstone, Riyan Parag, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Rahul Tewatia, Kartik Tyagi, Mustafizur Rahman, Chetan Sakariya/Jaydev Unadkat.