IPL 2019: Rajasthan Royals' probable playing XI against Chennai Super Kings
The Rajasthan Royals will host the high-flying Chennai Super Kings at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium for match 25 of Vivo IPL 2019. Both the sides are at the opposite ends of the points table and this is a must-win game for the Royals if they want to stay in the hunt for a playoffs spot.
CSK, meanwhile have been absolutely decimating their opponents and even with DJ Bravo out injured, CSK have bowled brilliantly and their batsmen have done enough to give them 5 wins out of 6 games.
RR have made a lot of changes in their last couple of games indicating that they are struggling to find the right team combination playing at home. On that note, let's take a look at RR's probable playing XI for the game against the Chennai Super Kings.
Jos Buttler and Ajinkya Rahane will continue to be the openers for RR and the duo have done a decent job so far. Decent will not suffice against CSK, though and the duo have to be at their best and not lose early wickets against the CSK spin attack and Deepak Chahar. Buttler has had a lot of success against CSK and RR will be hoping that he will come good once more.
Sanju Samson and Steve Smith are expected to be the side's main batsmen and both of them will be hungry to score runs. Samson is now fit after recovering from sickness and is expected to replace Prashanth Chopra who will consider himself unlucky. Both of them are great players of spin and must be at their A-game against CSK.
Ben Stokes and Rahul Tripathi will be the side's middle order batsmen. Both of them have had a moderate season so far and are yet to break away and come back to form. Stokes, especially hasn't got too much opportunity to bat at home and will look to come good against CSK, a team against which he scored 46 earlier this season.
Jofra Archer will be the side's main bowling all-rounder and is one bowler who has been the most crucial for RR. He's the only bowler unaffected by the slowness of the Jaipur track due to the pace at which he bowls and he'll be looking to pick up a couple of early wickets before troubling the batsmen during the death overs.
Krishnappa Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal have been the main spinners for RR and they will be crucial in this match especially against CSK who themselves have a plethora of spin-bowling options. Shreyas has been the wicket-taker while Gowtham has contained the batsmen. They can thrive on a slow track.
Sudhesan Midhun can get another match due to the fact that RR don't have any all-rounder bowling spin. He was taken apart by Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine and can't be blamed for the carnage against him because both the batsmen had nothing to lose and went hard. He has bowled a couple of wicket-taking deliveries and can be a threat to the CSK batsmen.
Dhawal Kulkarni has been good with the new ball and has been either bowled out or taken out of the attack before the death overs. He has swung the new ball and can either contain the CSK batsmen or pick up their wickets.
Follow Sportskeeda for all the updates on IPL schedule, news, points table, live scores, orange cap, purple cap and fantasy tips.