Rajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans are set to face each other at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in a highly consequential clash on Saturday, with the race to the playoffs heating up. Now, with Rajasthan sitting fourth on the points table and Gujarat one place behind in fifth, the match carries immense significance. A defeat here for RR would not only rob them of two valuable points, but it would also damage hopes of holding on to a top-four position.
RR began the season in sensational fashion, winning their first four matches. Their batting fired consistently; bowlers delivered under pressure, keeping them on top. However, the story has changed over the past few weeks. Rajasthan have managed only two victories in their last six matches, and they have been unable to build momentum again. Consecutive wins have eluded them, and the sharpness they showed early in the tournament has gone away.
This match is important for them to win to keep themselves in the top four. On the other hand, Gujarat Titans are moving in the right direction. Unlike Rajasthan, they have built momentum, riding a wave of confidence after winning four of their last six matches. The Titans started their campaign with two defeats, but they responded impressively with three consecutive victories. However, they went down again with another two defeats. Nonetheless, Gujarat would look to build momentum to bolster their position.
Head-to-head
Matches - 9
RR won - 3
GT won - 6
RR Probable XII: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Ravindra Jadeja, Donovan Ferreira, Shubham Dubey, Dasun Shanaka/Tushar Deshpande, Jofra Archer, Adam Milne, Ravi Bishnoi, Brijesh Sharma
GT Probable XII: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Nishant Sindhu, Washington Sundar, Jason Holder, Rahul Tewatia, Arshad Khan, Rashid Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Manav Suthar/Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj