NEW DELHI: Rajasthan Royals stand-in captain Yashasvi Jaiswal won the toss and opted to bowl first against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their IPL 2026 match at Jaipur's Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Tuesday. Regular captain Riyan Parag was unavailable due to a hamstring injury.
"He had some hamstring injury and he'll be fine soon, I hope so. So, he's not playing this game," Jaiswal said at the toss. "We're going to bowl first and I feel like it's a good wicket. Later on, there will be some dew, I hope. So, we are going to chase."
Expressing his pride at leading the side, Jaiswal added, "It means a lot to me and it's proud always to represent the Rajasthan Royals franchise." He confirmed three changes to the playing XI: "Sandy, Sushant Mishra and Lhuan-dre Pretorious come in."
On the team's winless record in Jaipur, Jaiswal said, "I think I'll just smile and enjoy the game and play. That said, I think it's a wonderful, wonderful day and we have the opportunity to play good cricket. So we are going to enjoy the game." Regarding Ravindra Jadeja's absence, he noted, "Nothing much at the moment. Jadu bhai is recovering. He has some niggles, but he'll be fine soon."
Pant Confident Ahead of Clash
LSG skipper Rishabh Pant expressed confidence in his team's preparation. "Pretty confident, we know this is a good wicket to bat on. Happy to either bat or bowl first. Definitely, as I said in the last few games, we have a lot to play for. As a team, we take pride and confidence in playing every match for our fans. At the same time, we want to put our best foot forward because we know we have a good team and we can do it."
Pant confirmed two changes: "Aiden (Markram) is not there because he has gone (home) for his personal thing. And just one more, Shami is not playing and Mohsin is playing. Badoni comes in for Aiden."
Playing XIs
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Ayush Badoni, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Akash Maharaj Singh, Prince Yadav
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal(c), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Dhruv Jurel(w), Donovan Ferreira, Shubham Dubey, Dasun Shanaka, Jofra Archer, Sushant Mishra, Sandeep Sharma, Brijesh Sharma, Yash Raj Punja
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