3 player battles to watch out for in RR vs PBKS, Match 59 of IPL 2025 ft. Yashasvi Jaiswal

With the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 resuming rapidly after a brief delay, the 59th match of the tournament will feature a clash between Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Punjab Kings (PBKS). The two teams will face off at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Sunday, May 18.

This contest promises to be exciting, as it will be intriguing to see if the in-form players can maintain their momentum after the short tournament interruption. Before the break, Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Yashasvi Jaiswal had been performing well for Rajasthan, along with their stand-in captain, Sanju Samson.

Both teams will miss several players who couldn’t return for the rest of the tournament due to national commitments or other reasons. While teams have announced their replacements, the team composition will experience a significant impact.

On that note, here’s a look at three player battles to watch in the upcoming contest:

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#3 Riyan Parag vs Yuzvendra Chahal

Riyan Parag has been in excellent form with the bat, with his most recent score being 95 against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He’s also been effective with the ball lately, taking a wicket against KKR.

Yuzvendra Chahal, on the other hand, is having a strong run with the ball, although his most recent performance was less than satisfactory as he conceded 50 runs while taking only one wicket. Before that match, he achieved a four-wicket haul, including a hat-trick, against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), contributing to his team’s victory.

In 15 balls across three innings against Chahal in T20s, Parag has scored eight runs and hasn’t hit a single boundary off the spinner. The PBKS spin sensation will aim to dismiss the RR batsman for the first time in this format.

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#2 Nehal Wadhera vs Wanindu Hasaranga

Nehal Wadhera is striving to contribute to his team’s success from the middle order. He has attempted to play the finisher’s role but has yet to find success. Given the chance, he will certainly aim to add to the team’s total.

Wanindu Hasaranga has dismissed Wadhera once in their previous T20 encounters, with the latter scoring 43 runs off just 24 deliveries in two innings. With the PBKS batter enjoying a strong record against the Sri Lankan, this could be a match-defining duel.

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#1 Yashasvi Jaiswal vs Arshdeep Singh

Yashasvi Jaiswal will seek to lead from the front when he opens the batting for the Royals in the upcoming match. It won’t be a challenging task for him to stay on the pitch for an extended period if he manages to tackle PBKS’s new-ball bowlers.

One bowler who can prevent Jaiswal from going wild during the powerplay is Arshdeep Singh, who has taken 16 wickets in 11 matches so far. Jaiswal has five half-centuries to his name this season and will be eager to perform when he steps onto the field on Sunday afternoon.

Jaiswal has scored 36 runs off 29 balls against the PBKS pacer, who has dismissed the RR opener twice in six innings.