Yahoo Movies Toss: Punjab Elect to Bowl vs Rajasthan, Birthday Boy Chris Gayle Sits Out
Match three of IPL 2021 in the UAE and Punjab Kings have won the toss and elected to bowl first against Rajasthan Royals in Dubai.
Ishan Porel, Aiden Markram and Adil Rashid make their debuts for Punjab which also means birthday boy Chris Gayle has to sit out.
For Rajasthan, Evin Lewis is playing his debut game.
KL Rahul's Punjab are currently at the 7th spot in the IPL standings with 6 points from 8 matches while Samson's Rajasthan are 6th with 6 points from 7 matches.
Lewis, Livingstone, Morris and Mustafizur Rehman are RR's four overseas players.
Livingstone, for the last couple of years, has been in phenomenal form in the shortest format of the game. He is coming to Dubai on the back of a stunning show in 'The Hundred'. It is most likely that he may open with West Indies' Lewis on Tuesday.
If the duo manages to give Royals an explosive start in the Powerplay overs, the men-in-blue will expect skipper Sanju Samson to be more consistent in that number three position. Not to forget the all-rounder Chris Morris. He may not be in South Africa's plans anymore but he remains a formidable force. He is also the second-highest wicket-taker this IPL season (14).
Punjab have lost a bit of firepower in their bowling with Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith choosing not to join them for the IPL's resumption. And while that robs them of express pace -- an advantage in any form of cricket -- they still possess bowlers capable of causing problems.
The Royals and Punjab have met each other on 22 occasions and while Samson's side has won 12 times, Rahul's team has emerged victorious 10 times.
. Read more on IPL by The Quint.Toss: Punjab Elect to Bowl vs Rajasthan, Birthday Boy Chris Gayle Sits OutHow Kareena Kapoor Khan Taught Us Self-Love, Both On and Off-Screen . Read more on IPL by The Quint.
