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Rajasthan Royals (RR) have won the toss and decided to field first against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the eighth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati on Wednesday, April 5. This is the first time an IPL game will be played at this venue.
Both teams have stuck to their winning combinations from their last game and will hope to get the desired result.
They have announced five substitutes each, who can come in as an Impact Player at any stage of the game. Both Rajasthan and Punjab have four Indians and one overseas cricketer on the list.
Here is the list of Impact players in today's match:
Rajasthan Royals: Dhruv Jurel, Aprit Vashisht, Murugan Ashwin, Kuldip Yadav, and Donovan Ferreira.
Punjab Kings: Atharva Taide, Matthew Short, Harpreet Bhatia, Mohit Rathee, and Rishi Dhawan.
The home side were the first team to use the Impact Player rule. They brought in middle-order batter Dhruv Jurel in place of senior leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal at the end of the 16th over.
PBKS, meanwhile, used the Impact Player rule after the 15th over of RR innings. They brought in pacer Rishi Dhawan in place of opener Prabhsimran Singh to strengthen their bowling at the death.
Speaking at the toss, Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson highlighted that they had a camp in Guwahati before the start of the tournament and are used to the conditions.
"We would like to bowl here. Expecting some dew. We will use the opportunity to bowl first. It is a great thought by the franchise. Loving it here. The players have gotten used to the conditions. We are going in with the same side," Sanju said at the toss.
PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan, meanwhile, stressed that they are taking one game at a time and not focusing on what has happened in the past.
"We all know the dew comes. We also wanted to bowl first. It is alright. We are used to it," Dhawan said. "Let's go day by day. Not putting too much on pressure on myself. The process matters the most. Same eleven from the last game. RR are a very good side. They are playing good cricket. We want to give our best."
Both teams are coming into this game on the back of individual victories and will hope to keep the winning run going.
The Royals are currently second in the points table with two points, while the Kings are placed fifth due to a weaker net run rate.
RR vs PBKS Playing XI
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (wk/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, KM Asif, and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Nathan Ellis, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, and Arshdeep Singh.
