Rajasthan Royals host Kings XI Punjab in the second of the two Indian Premier League(IPL) games scheduled for Sunday.

Rahul Dravid (Rajasthan Royals)
Rahul Dravid(Rajasthan Royals) Reuters

Where to Watch Live

Play is scheduled to start at 3.30am BST. Live coverage is on ITV 4 and ITV 4 HD. Follow the game live, via text commentary, on ESPN Cricinfo. You can watch the highlights of the match here.

Overview

Rajasthan have made a good start to their season, winning two of their first three matches in the sixth edition of the IPL and are currently fifth in the table, level on points with Chennai. The Royals have already shown their class this season, pulling off convincing wins over last year's table leaders Delhi DareDevils and defending Champions Kolkata Knight Riders in their opening two games. However, Captain Rahul Dravid will be slightly concerned after their loss to eighth placed Pune Warriors in their last game where he was let down by his players in all facets of the field.

Dravid has been the pick of the batsmen for Rajasthan, scoring two half centuries and holding his own in the middle order, displaying why he is still regarded to be among the best batsmen in the world. Ajinkya Rahane has also been in good form but needs to find the ability to finish games, having been bundled out in the thirties in each of their last three games. Kevon Cooper has been the pick of the bowlers thus far for Rajasthan, picking up six wickets, but the quintet of Sreesanth, Siddharth Trivedi , Rahul Shukla and Harmeet Singh have failed to deliver and need to get their act together or risk getting caught out later in the tournament.

Kings XI Punjab are the only team to have played only two games thus far in the tournament. Punjab started on a winning note, crushing eighth placed Pune Warriors to register an eight wicket win with seven overs to spare. However, their progress was cut short by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, whose side, the Chennai Super Kings(CSK) , registered a ten wicket victory in their second game. Murali Vijay and Michael Hussey scored unbeaten half centuries to give CSK the win, thus handing camptain Adam Gilchrist much to think about before this game.

The team as a whole has been extremely inconsistent in the two games played, with the batsmen making easy meal of the 100 run target handed to them after a brilliant performance by the bowlers in their game against Pune. However, the same set to players failed to turn up against Chennai, adding to Gilchrist's headache. The captain himself has not been in good touch either, scoring only 24 runs from his two games.

Team Form

Rajasthan Royals

  • Last Five(most recent first):L W W
  • Last Result: Rajasthan Royals lost to Pune Warriors by seven wickets.

Kings XI Punjab

  • Last Five(most recent first):L W
  • Last Result: Kings Xi Punjab lost to Chennai Super Kings by 10 wickets.

Team News

Rajasthan Royals have a major injury concern in Shane Watson who has been ruled out with an injury. The Royals are also missing key bowlers in Rahul Shukla and Shaun Tait, whose absence contributed to their dismal bowling performance against Pune.

Adam Gilchrist has a full squad to choose from , with only fast bowler Aniket Choudhary missing out due to injury.