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Rajasthan Royals Opt to Bowl Against Punjab Kings in IPL 2026 Finale
Rajasthan Royals (RR) captain Riyan Parag has chosen to bowl against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in the last game of the IPL 2026, citing cloud cover and little showers as the reason behind his decision. The match is expected to be a thrilling encounter, with both teams making key changes to their lineups.
Toss and Team Changes
Toss Rajasthan Royals chose to bowl vs Punjab Kings
RR made two changes to their side, bringing in allrounder Dasun Shanaka in place of Shimron Hetmyer and legspinner Yash Raj Punja for Ravi Bishnoi. Parag said that there was a “cloud cover and little showers as well”, which led to his decision to bowl.
PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer also said that he was looking to bowl, considering the “wicket was covered for a couple of days”. PBKS also made two changes to their side, one of them a forced change. They brought in Suryansh Shedge for Shashank Singh. Fast bowler Lockie Ferguson plays his first game of the season, replacing Xavier Bartlett. This is the first time this IPL that PBKS have changed their XII.
Recent Form and Expectations
PBKS are in red-hot form, having not dropped a game so far in the tournament. In the previous game, they pulled off the highest successful T20 chase, mowing down 265 with seven balls to spare. In seven games so far, they have won six, while one match was washed out.
RR started with four straight wins but had a blip, losing two in two before getting back to winning ways against Lucknow Super Giants. They are coming into the game having been beaten by Sunrisers Hyderabad three days back.
Team Lineups
Rajasthan Royals: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, 3 Dhruv Jurel (wk), 4 Riyan Parag (capt), 5 Donovan Ferreira, 6 Dasun Shanaka, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Jofra Archer, 9 Brijesh Sharma, 10 Nandre Burger, 11 Yash Raj Punja
RR impact options: Ravi Bishnoi, Ravi Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Shubham Dubey, Shimron Hetmyer
Punjab Kings: 1 Priyansh Arya, 2 Prabhsimran Singh (wk), 3 Cooper Connolly, 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Nehal Wadhera, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Suryansh Shedge, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Lockie Ferguson, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Yuzvendra Chahal
PBKS impact options: Vishnu Vinod, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Xavier Bartlett, Harpreet Brar, Musheer Khan
Shreyas also offered heartfelt condolences to Azmatalluah Omarzai on the loss of his mother.
