Pat Cummins won the toss in New Chandigarh this afternoon and, without much hesitation, asked Rajasthan Royals to bat first. It is the IPL Eliminator – lose and you go home – and the SRH skipper pointed to simple numbers rather than grand theory: “three chases, three wins out of four here this season, so why fiddle with it?”.
Riyan Parag, leading Royals, admitted he would have done the same. That left both sides shrugging their shoulders, familiar with the surface but now tackling it from opposite ends.
Key facts up top
• Winner moves on to Qualifier 2 against Gujarat Titans, loser’s campaign ends.
• Final already has Royal Challengers Bengaluru waiting.
• SRH beat RR twice in the league phase, but the Royals have never lost in New Chandigarh – three from three over Punjab Kings.
Teams and a few nudges
Sunrisers made a single change: right-armer Praful Hinge returns for Harshal Patel, hinting they fancy a bit of early movement rather than cutters at the death. Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma and Heinrich Klaasen still form that aggressive top four; Liam Livingstone sits among the Impact options if they need a late jolt with bat or spin.
Rajasthan’s only tweak is Ravi Jadeja starting; Shubham Dubey drops to the Impact bench. Expect Dubey to appear should an early wicket tumble or, later, if Royals want an extra hitter while chasing leather. Bowling reinforcements Ravi Bishnoi and Tushar Deshpande lurk in the wings depending on how the pitch behaves under lights.
Playing XIs
RR (batting first): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Parag (c), Donovan Ferreira, Dasun Shanaka, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, Yash Raj Punja.
Impact pool: Dubey, Sushant Mishra, Aman Perala, Bishnoi, Deshpande.
SRH (bowling first): Abhishek Sharma, Head, Ishan Kishan (wk), Klaasen, R Smaran, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Cummins (c), Shivang Kumar, Eshan Malinga, Sakib Hussain, Hinge.
Impact pool: Aniket Verma, Salil Arora, Livingstone, Harsh Dubey, Harshal Patel.
Early thoughts – brief and honest
Royals’ unbeaten ground record is useful, yet those wins came against Punjab, not Hyderabad’s heavier artillery. SRH, meanwhile, have occasionally looked top-heavy; if Head and Abhishek mis-fire the middle can seize up. That is where Jadeja’s left-arm spin and Archer’s pace could combine.
Analyst Tom Moody said earlier in the day the surface “tends to skid on under lights, so chasing is logical,” while former India batter Ambati Rayudu believes Royals must “find 185-plus to stay in the contest.” Both views feel sensible rather than spectacular.
Conditions
It is hot but not oppressive – mid-30s, a dry breeze. The square has the usual high-scoring reputation but the strip used tonight is browner than last week, so there might be early seam. Dew remains a talking point; nobody will know until the second innings but most captains here still prefer to chase, which perhaps seals the argument.
What happens next
If Parag’s side post something meaty and keep Travis Head quiet, the Royals’ New Chandigarh hoodoo for visiting teams could stretch on. Fail, and Cummins may tick off another chase statistic before heading to Ahmedabad for a shot at the Titans. For now it is just the toss, the line-ups, and a sense that neither camp thinks the other has the upper hand – a decent way to start a knockout.
