Rajasthan Royals skipper in the moment, Yashasvi Jaiswal, won the toss and chose to bowl first against Lucknow Super Giants in Jaipur, hoping the ball would grip a little more once the evening dew starts to arrive. RR’s usual captain Riyan Parag is sidelined with a hamstring problem, though he is listed among the Impact Sub options. If the hosts make a late switch in the chase, Vaibhav Sooryanavshi is viewed as the most likely inclusion.
“It means a lot to me and I’m proud to represent the Rajasthan Royals franchise,” Jaiswal said at the toss.
Ravindra Jadeja once again misses out due to elbow and knee concerns. The left-arm spin-bowling allrounder is also not part of India’s Test squad for the one-off match against Afghanistan.
Rajasthan made three alterations for the encounter, with Sandeep Sharma, Sushant Mishra and Lhuan-dre Pretorius coming into the XI. Alongside Parag, Ravi Singh and Adam Milne were also left out. Mishra is set to play his first IPL match. Since the start of IPL 2025, RR have managed just one win from eight outings in Jaipur, and they now find themselves in a tight five-team fight for a playoff spot. Lucknow, meanwhile, are already out of contention for the postseason.
For Lucknow, Mohammed Shami has been left out, while left-arm fast bowler Mohsin Khan returns to the side. Ayush Badoni is also back in the XI, replacing Aiden Markram, who has returned home for personal reasons. Markram will not be available for Lucknow’s last match of the season either. On the day, Lucknow named only three overseas players in their playing group. Digvesh Rathi, their mystery spinner, is expected to be used as the Impact Player when the team takes the field later.
RR bowl-first XI
- 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal (capt)
- 2 Lhuan-dre Pretorius
- 3 Dhruv Jurel (wk)
- 4 Donovan Ferreira
- 5 Shubham Dubey
- 6 Dasun Shanaka
- 7 Jofra Archer
- 8 Sushant Mishra
- 9 Sandeep Sharma
- 10 Brijesh Sharma
- 11 Yash Raj Punja
Impact Subs bench: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yudhvir Singh, Aman Rao, Ravi Bishnoi, Riyan Parag
LSG bat-first XI
- 1 Mitchell Marsh
- 2 Josh Inglis
- 3 Nicholas Pooran
- 4 Rishabh Pant (capt & wk)
- 5 Ayush Badoni
- 6 Abdul Samad
- 7 Shahbaz Ahmed
- 8 Mohsin Khan
- 9 Mayank Yadav
- 10 Akash Singh
- 11 Prince Yadav
Impact Subs bench: Mukul Choudhary, M Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Himmat Singh, Arshin Kulkarni
