Find out team news, TV and streaming information, odds, weather forecasts and much, much more ahead of the fourth game of the new Indian Premier League season
Rajasthan Royals face Punjab Kings in the fourth game of the 14th edition of the IPL.
The game is scheduled for 7.30pm IST (3pm BST) on Monday, April 12, 2021.
Mumbai's Wanhede's stadium will host the match.
This is the first time we've seen either of these sides during this year's IPL, the final two teams to begin their respective campaigns.
Both sides ended the last term in losing fashion, with Punjab Kings (or Kings XI Punjab as they were then) losing by nine wickets to Chennai Super Kings.
Royals meanwhile were also on the wrong end of a thrashing, as Kolkata Knight Riders beat them by 60 runs in their concluding group game.
The pair endured mediocre group campaigns, both winning six and losing eight of their matches to finish outside the top four. Royals were actually bottom of the pile on net run-rate, while Kings were pushed into sixth.
Dafabet have Rajasthan Royals as marginal favourites at 10/11, with Punjab Kings available at 17/20.
In the top run-scorer stakes, Royals pair Jos Buttler can be backed at 12/5 with Ben Stokes at 14/5.
Kings captain KL Rahul is available at 2/1, with Dawid Malan at 3/1 to outscore his teammates on debut.
All eyes will be on Chris Morris, the most expensive signing in IPL history after Royals paid 16.25 crore for his services during the mini-auction.
There will also be plenty of attention on the performances of Malan, who faces a potentially make-or-break seven weeks ahead of the World Cup.
Ranked No.1 in the ICC T20 batting rankings and 61st in the men's Player Index, the England batter has been criticised for his slow starts in the format and his performances will be of huge interest to his international skipper Eoin Morgan.
Jofra Archer is missing for the start of the IPL due to having undergone surgery on his right hand, while he remains hindered by an elbow problem. He is due to miss at least the first four matches of the Royals' campaign.
Sanju Samson will captain Royals for the first time after taking over during the off-season following the release of Steve Smith.
Kings could hand outings to four new overseas players. Jhye Richardson, Moises Henriques, Malan and Riley Meredith were all picked up during the auction, though the latter might miss out with Nicholas Pooran likely to begin in the middle order.
The two teams have played each other 21 times.
Rajasthan Royals wins: 12
Punjab Kings wins: 9
Temperatures in Mumbai are set to hit around 31 degrees celsius for the start of the match, with clear skies expected throughout.
No, this match will be played behind closed doors owing to the Covid-19 situation in India.
IPL TEAM GUIDES
Sky Sports have the rights in the United Kingdom.
You can aso stream the tournament using the Disney+ Hotstar digital platform, though the matches are only available for VIP or Premium subscribers.
Star Sports have the television rights in India.
Streaming service YuppTV have acquired digital streaming rights in a host of markets, including Australia, continental Europe, Malaysia, Southeast Asia with the exception of Singapore, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, Central Asia, and Central and South America.
In the USA, the games will be broadcast on Willow TV and the Willow TV website. Fox Sports have the broadcasting rights in Australia, while Supersport will televise the games in South Africa. In the Caribbean, Flow TV have the rights.
The following broadcasters owning the rights for their respective regions:
Bangladesh: Channel 9
Afghanistan: Lemar TV
Malaysia: Measat
MENA/UAE: BeIN Sport
Hong Kong: Now TV
Singapore: SingTel
New Zealand: Sky Sport
Papua New Guinea: EMTV
Rajasthan Royals squad: Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Riyan Parag, Shreyas Gopal, Rahul Tewatia, Mahipal Lomror, Kartik Tyagi, Andrew Tye, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Anuj Rawat, David Miller, Manan Vohra, Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Mustafizur Rahim, Chetan Sakariya, K.C. Cariappa, Liam Livingstone, Kuldip Yadav, Akash Singh
Punjab Kings squad: KL Rahul (c), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel, Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar
Rajasthan Royals: Ben Stokes, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sanju Samson (c), Manan Vohra, Jos Buttler, Chris Morris, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Mayank Markande
Punjab Kings: Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Jalaj Saxena, Moises Henriques, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Jhye Richardson
Our coverage of the IPL is brought to you in association with Dafabet India. For more on Dafabet and to place a bet, click here
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