3 player battles to watch out for in PBKS vs RR, Match 27 of IPL 2024 ft. Shikhar Dhawan vs Trent Boult

The Punjab Kings (PBKS) will hope to get some momentum in what has been a trademark start-stop campaign for them. The Shikhar Dhawan-led side are scheduled to take on league leaders Rajasthan Royals (RR) at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Saturday, April 12.

In their previous matches, PBKS and RR suffered narrow losses to the SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) and the Gujarat Titans (GT).

There is a little similarity between the two sides in the form of troubles in their top order and a potent new ball attack. However, it is the spin department and the middle order that separates the two sides, and where RR reigns supreme.

RR have been thriving with Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag hitting top form. On the other hand, PBKS are sorely missing Liam Livingstone and their middle-order personnel like Sikandar Raza and Sam Curran have not been impactful. They have been over-reliant on the newfound finishing pair of Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh.

The two franchises have shown the tendency to produce thrilling matches, and have carved out a rivalry of their own. Despite the two sides being separated by six teams in the points table, this encounter might not be as easy to predict on the ground as it looks on paper.

On that note, let us take a look at three player battles to watch out for in PBKS vs RR, Match 27 of IPL 2024.

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#1 Shikhar Dhawan vs Trent Boult

Trent Boult has been a straight-up nightmare for Shikhar Dhawan to face in the shortest format. The left-handed batter has not been able to deal with the New Zealand pacer's movement or accuracy.

If the ball moves around in the air, then the veteran batter could be in trouble and perhaps be even dismissed for the tenth time by the left-arm pacer in the shortest format. He has not been among the runs across the last two matches while Boult is also on the lookout to bounce back after going wicketless in the last couple of games.

The duo have come across each other 17 times in the shortest format, where Boult has dominated proceedings. The left-arm pacer has dismissed Dhawan a total of nine times and has only conceded 141 runs off 236 deliveries.

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#2 Yashasvi Jaiswal vs Arshdeep Singh

Expectations were huge from Yashasvi Jaiswal for the 2024 season, especially the manner after he settled and thrived in the national side. However, he has yet to score a noteworthy knock in the ongoing edition so far, and in the upcoming clash against RR, he will have to clear the initial hurdle in the form of Arshdeep Singh.

The left-arm pacer picked up figures of 4-29 in his previous game and will hope to push on and continue to be among the wickets. An early breakthrough is bound to be on his radar given RR's opening woes this season, and given Jaiswal's woeful form, the matchup will prove to be very crucial in the context of the game.

The two young guns have faced each other four times in total, where Arshdeep Singh has managed to dismiss Jaiswal twice. The left-handed batter has scored a run-a-ball 15 against the fellow youngster.

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#3 Sanju Samson vs Harpreet Brar

The RR skipper has been ruthless against spin-bowling this season. Although he always starts a campaign on a good note, this time he has kept his form ongoing and has been consistent, which has helped his and the team's cause.

Last contest, Sanju Samson and Riyan Parag survived the entire middle over phase in Jaipur against GT, which included seven overs of spin bowling by Noor Ahmad and Rashid Khan. Even during the win over the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) Samson was brutal against spinners.

Although PBKS' lead spinner Harpreet Brar has enjoyed a relatively good season, he was the most expensive bowler for his side in the loss against PBKS.

With Samson's revamped approach against spin yielding a strike rate of 155.49 since 2021 compared to 122 before that, Harpreet Brar will be in the firing line, unless he can use it to his advantage. Either way, the matchup will be enticing and match-defining at the same time.

Samson has only been up against the left-arm spinner once in his career. Of the eight balls that he faced, he scored 12 runs at a strike rate of 150.