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Punjab Kings (PBKS) full-time captain Shikhar Dhawan is not playing today's Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 game against Rajasthan Royals (RR) in Mullanpur on Saturday (April 13). The left-hander has been ruled out of the playing XI due to a niggle. Atharva Taide has replaced Dhawan in the XI.
In Dhawan's absence, all-rounder Sam Curran is leading Punjab. The latter led Punjab to two wins out of four matches last season.
At the toss, stand-in captain Curran said:
"Shikhar picked up a niggle, that's why I'm here. We've Atharva Taide coming in for Shikhar tonight."
For the unversed, Dhawan has amassed 152 runs in five innings at a strike rate of 125.62, with best score of 70 against Lucknow Super Giants.
On the contrary, Liam Livingstone has made his comeback to the side after recovering from his hamstring injury. The English all-rounder missed the last two games against Gujarat and Hyderabad, respectively. He will look to deliver with both bat and ball in Dhawan's absence.
RR opt to bowl against PBKS in IPL 2024 match
Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson won the toss and chose to bowl against Punjab Kings in IPL on Saturday. The Royals made two changes to their playing XI as Jos Buttler and Ravichandran Ashwin made way for Rovman Powell and Tanush Kotian.
At the toss, Samson said:
"We'll bowl first, it looks like a decent wicket to bowl first. We've made a target to not think about the goal, focus on the process, work on building the team and we're doing well. "
He added:
"A lot of challenges outside as well, we've many players missing from tonight's game. 90% of the game was good - Jos isn't 100%, Ash bhai is having a niggle, so Rovman and Kotian come into the XI."
For the unversed, both Punjab and Rajasthan are coming off the back of close losses against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans, respectively. However, RR are placed at the top of the IPL 2024 points table with four wins in five games. Punjab are eighth with just two wins in five matches. The two teams will look to return to winning ways.
Follow the PBKS vs RR IPL 2024 live score and updates here.
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