Venue: Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
Time: 3:30 PM IST
Average score at venue (1st inns): 165
Win percentage while batting first: 38.78%
Pitch conditions:
- Teams will be more comfortable batting second here at the Wankhede Stadium since the last 3 out of 4 matches have been won by the sides who batted last.
- The pitch remains conducive for batting irrespective of first or the second innings, as application and intent from the batsmen are the qualities that remain paramount.
- With 69.92% of the dismissals coming their way, fast bowlers will be expected to do better than spinners, who have a wicket-share of 30.08%.
Weather prediction:
The temperature will be at a high of 34°C at the start of the match on Saturday afternoon, but the mercury will keep dropping down to close to 31°C at the time the game ends. The humidity levels will range between 55-70%.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD (overall):
Matches played: 23
Punjab won: 10
Rajasthan won: 13
No result: -
Top 3 players from Punjab: Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Bhanuka Rajpaksa
Top 3 players from Rajasthan: Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Sanju Samson
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from Punjab: Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Bhanuka Rajpaksa, Liam Livingstone, Arshdeep Singh
Top 5 players from Rajasthan: Jos Buttler, Shimron Hetmyer, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Prasidh Krishna
Q & A:
Fantasy tips and tricks: Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
No team has yet been bowled out at the Wankhede Stadium, which implies that the surface here remains best for batting but runs have come for only those batsmen who have shown the requisite application, intent and discipline to get them. Punjab will have to be particularly wary of the Rajasthan wicketkeeper-batsman Jos Buttler, who has raked up big runs throughout the tournament and including at the Wankhede Stadium, where he loves to bat. Adding more to the batting line-up to make it as deep as possible, along with carrying smart seam bowlers who can exploit the new ball, should be the right approach to make the fantasy cricket XI.
Fantasy tips: From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
Indeed, the Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan are the stronger side and should have more players from their side featuring in the playing XI for fantasy cricket. Rajasthan not only have more players who have contributed to the team’s cause at various stages of the Indian T20 Cricket League, but they also have a more balanced and dangerous side when compared with Punjab, who have had their share of struggles. Rajasthan are currently placed 3rd in the points table with 6 wins in 10 matches and 4 losses giving them 12 points and a Net Run Rate (NRR) of 0.340. On the other hand, Punjab are struggling at the 7th spot with 5 wins and as many losses from 10 matches giving them 10 points and a poor NRR of -0.229.
MORE INFORMATION: Rajasthan have had a mixed run at the Wankhede Stadium since they have won 2 and lost as many in their 4 outings so far at the venue. Their most recent outing also turned out to be a disappointing one as Kolkata handed them a 7-wicket thrashing on May 2. On the other hand, Punjab also have had a mixed run here at the Wankhede Stadium, winning their most recent game against Chennai impressively by a margin of 11 runs after being hammered by Kolkata by 6 wickets. Meanwhile, both Rajasthan and Punjab will look to put their best foot forward as neither side can afford negative outcomes and non-performance at this stage in the Indian T20 Cricket League 2022.
PLAYERS’ FORM: With scores of 22, 116, 13 and 70, Jos Buttler has indicated that he is a very dangerous batsman at the Wankhede Stadium and Punjab ought to have strong plans against the English wicketkeeper-batsman. Jos Buttler likes taking on the opposition and if he tees off on Saturday afternoon against Punjab, that will be a warning sign for the Mayank Agarwal-led team which has struggled for consistency with both the bat and the ball. For a team that promises so much, Punjab have only underperformed in all departments but now is the time when none of that will matter if they bring out their best cricket in the remaining matches of the league round.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
LIKELY XIs:
PUNJAB: Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal (c), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Rishi Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Sandeep Sharma.
RAJASTHAN: Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c&wk), Karun Nair, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Sen
FANTASY XI: Jos Buttler (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Sanju Samson (wk), Bhanuka Rajpaksa, Liam Livingstone, Shimron Hetmyer (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Kagiso Rabada, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Sen.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
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