RR vs LSG Head to Head, Playing XI, Preview, Where to Watch on TV, Online, and Live Streaming Details

KL Rahul vs Sanju Samson. Two cricketers who have plenty in common: they hail from southern India, have a distinctive batting style, can keep wickets in addition to their eye-pleasing willow-work, and also lead their IPL franchises. There is more: both Rahul and Samson led franchises that had their stature reduced to merely keeping the IPL an eight-team tournament.

Rajasthan Royals and Punjab Kings seemed slight misfits in a league of IPL’s standard, and that reflects well in their end-season standings each year. Both the teams have changed aplenty, one even rechristened themselves from Kings XI Punjab to Punjab Kings. But all of that to no avail. While it is true that Rahul and Samson cannot be held responsible for the two teams’ historically underwhelming returns, also true is the fact that they could not change any of it under their leadership.

Rahul helmed Punjab in 2020 and 2021, with the team finishing at an identical sixth spot in both the editions, whereas under Samson last year, the Royals narrowly escaped a second wooden spoon finish on the trot, finishing seventh after ending at the bottom in 2020 (under Steve Smith, though).

Cut to 2022, Rahul is leading a brand-new franchise in Lucknow Super Giants, while Samson is only technically leading an old franchise, with plenty having changed at the Royals post the mega auction – so much so that terming it a new franchise might not be entirely wrong. That all aside, the fate of both these men continues to remain similar, and for the good this time.

The Super Giants have been one of the teams to beat in their maiden season, having registered six-wicket wins over Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals with a 12-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad sandwiched in between. This, after they tasted defeat in their maiden IPL outing against fellow debutants Gujarat Titans, by five wickets. But a hat-trick of wins following that defeat means they sit third on the tally at the moment.

The Royals, meanwhile, are not too far behind, placed fourth with a solitary loss and two wins so far. They brushed aside Sunrisers (by 61 runs) and Mumbai Indians (by 23 runs) to cap off two successful defences, and nearly made it a third against Royal Challengers Bangalore before Dinesh Karthik happened. However, there is no reason for panic to set in, with only a mild slip-up.

Pitch and conditions 

After four games at the Wankhede Stadium this season, a score is yet to be defended. With the numbers so heavily skewed in favour of chasers, expect the captains to shout bowl first upon winning the toss. For the teams batting first, the venue has not proved too conducive to putting up a big total either, with the average first innings score so far being a middling 148.

Playing combinations for RR vs LSG

Rajasthan Royals 

Jos Buttler is smashing it hard at the top and wearing the Orange Cap, Shimron Hetmyer is operating in a league of his own with lightning-fast cameos whenever he is walking in and between them is the calm assuredness of Devdutt Padikkal and Samson.

If Yashashvi Jaiswal could get into the groove, the Royals will be fully chin up as bowlers Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, R Ashwin and Yuzvendra Chahal, keeping aside a couple of misses here and there, have been doing their job well. Meanwhile, Nathan Coulter-Nile’s injury-enforced exit means James Neesham will have to bear the all-rounder onus in the squad single-handedly.

Predicted XI: Jos Buttler, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, James Neesham, Navdeep Saini, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal

Lucknow Super Giants

Rahul seems to be shifting into prolific run-scoring gear gradually after an ominous start with a duck in the season opener, while with two match-winning half-centuries (61 vs CSK and 80 vs DC), Quinton de Kock seems to have gotten into the groove as well. Deepak Hooda and Krunal Pandya have excelled in the middle-order apart from chipping in with the ball occasionally, whereas the young Ayush Badoni and his finishing abilities have been nothing short of a revelation.

With an all-rounder of Jason Holder’s pedigree in the ranks, and an accurate Ravi Bishnoi alongside pacer Andrew Tye and Avesh Khan, who are taking wickets both in the powerplay and death, LSG are looking arguably the most well-rounded unit. The only concern is Evin Lewis, who is yet to fire after a quick-fire half-century against CSK. He might pave way for Australia all-rounder Marcus Stoinis.

Probable XI: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Evin Lewis/Marcus Stoinis, Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, Krunal Pandya, Jason Holder, Krishnappa Gowtham, Andrew Tye, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan

RR vs LSG Head-to-Head

This is the maiden meeting of the two sides.

RR vs LSG Broadcast Details

Match Timings – 07:30 PM IST

TV – Star Sports Network

Live Streaming – Disney+Hotstar