Last year's semi-finalists Rajasthan Royals begin their campaign against Kings XI Punjab on Monday. With the return of Steve Smith boosting their stocks considerably, RR look to build on their previous year exploits while for the Ashwin and co, IPL 2019 presents another golden opportunity to rewrite the history books. With the Royals' fortress Sawai Mansingh Stadium playing host to the Kings, one should expect a competitive match between bat and ball amongst some of the most talented individuals in the competition. Squads to choose from Rajasthan Royals Ajinkya Rahane(C), Steve Smith, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Ashton Turner, Liam Livingstone, Prashant Chopra, Shashank Singh, Shubham Ranjane, Mahipal Lomror, Riyan Parag, Jofra Archer, Manan Vohra, Aryaman Birla, Rahul Tripathi, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ish Sodhi, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni, Varun Aaron, Oshane Thomas, S. Midhun. Kings XI Punjab Ravi Ashwin (C), Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh, David Miller, Sarfraz Khan, Moises Henriques, Harpreet Brar, Sam Curran, Varun Chakravarthi, PrabhSimran Singh, Nicolas Pooran, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Andrew Tye, Hardus Viljoen, Ankit Rajpoot, Arshdeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Agnivesh Ayachi Playing XI Updates Rajasthan Royals Steve Smith's introduction adds much-needed stability to the Royals middle order with Sanju Samson and Ben Stokes giving him company. Jos Buttler's promotion to the top of the other last year has reaped rich dividends for him and will be their go-to batsmen against the Kings. Jofra Archer and Jaydev Unadkat will hold the key in the death overs while Karnataka duo, Gowtham and Gopal's spin will come into play in the middle overs and possibly in the powerplay as well. Possible XI: Rahane(C), Buttler(WK), Smith, Samson, Buttler, Tripathi/Binny, Gowtham, Gopal, Archer, Unadkat, Kulkarni Kings XI Punjab Ravi Ashwin and Mike Hesson have a puzzle to solve in regards to their overseas combination with Chris Gayle, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Andrew Tye certain to play. Big money signings, Nicolas Pooran and Sam Curran fight for one spot in the side while Varun Chakravarthi is also in line for an IPL debut. KL Rahul should partner Gayle at the top of the other with Nair, Agarwal and Mandeep following them in the middle order as they seek to draw first blood in the IPL Points Table at the expense of the Royals. Possible XI: Gayle, Rahul(WK), Agarwal, Nair, Mandeep, Curran/Pooran, R. Ashwin(C), Mujeeb, Shami, Tye and Varun. Match Details Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab, Indian Premier League 2019, Match 4 25th March 2019, 8:00 PM IST Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Head to Head Total Matches: 17 RR: 10 (58.8%) KXIP: 7 (41.2%) No Result: 0 Matches in Jaipur: 5 (5 RR, 0 KXIP) Last 5 Matches: RR 2 KXIP 3 Previous Encounters Last Match: May 08, 2018: RR (158-8, 20 overs) beat KXIP (143-7, 20 overs) by 15 runs at Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur Man of the Match - Jos Buttler (82 off 58) Fantasy Tips and Suggestions Wicket-keeper: With two elite keepers in the offering, either of them would be an invaluable asset to the fantasy team. Buttler and Rahul have proven their worth at the top of the order for their respective sides and are sure to be amongst the runs once again on Monday. Batsmen: Mayank Agarwal enters yet another IPL in good touch after a match-winning fifty in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2019 final. He is one to have in the side while the likes of Sanju Samson and Steve Smith also being good options to choose. One of Chris Gayle or Mandeep Singh should suffice as the second batting option from Punjab. All-rounders: Ben Stokes is one of the best all-rounders in the world and is a must-have in any side, regardless of the format and competition. Along with him, Krishnappa Gowtham and Ravichandran Ashwin are viable options to choose with their subtle variations. Bowlers: Jofra Archer and Mohammad Shami are the preferred pacers with their pace and ability to nail the yorker proving to be an invaluable asset in recent times. Mujeeb ur Rahman is also one to watch out for with an air of mystery still around him while Shreyas Gopal could also prove to be handy at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. Captain: Whoever is picked as the designated wicket-keeper in the fantasy team is good to be chosen as the captain as well with Rahul and Buttler's prowess at the top of the order well known to one and all. Dotball Fantasy Suggestion #1: KL Rahul(WK), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Sanju Samson, Steve Smith, Krishnappa Gowtham, Ben Stokes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jofra Archer, Mujeeb ur Rahman and Mohammed Shami. Captain: KL Rahul Dotball Fantasy Suggestion #2: Jos Buttler (WK), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Ajinkya Rahane, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Jofra Archer, Mohammed Shami and Mujeeb ur Rahman. Captain: Jos Buttler<doc-sep>Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab Monday May 25, 14:30 Live on BT Sport and Star Gold (Sky channel 729) Royals have talent to triumph Rajasthan Royals could be a value outsider bet for the title this season. The price of 15.5 to win IPL 2019, the rank outsiders, is a complete mystery to me and therefore worthy of note. With the earlier than anticipated arrival of Aussie Steven Smith, after he wasn't selected for national duty in the UAE, they have a world star who will be hungry to make up for lost time after his Sanpapergate suspension. The Royals made it through to the play-offs in 2018 with a 4th placed finish after winning seven games and losing seven. It's that inconsistency that they will need to iron out this season as, when they fire, they can beat anyone. They lost the qualifier game to the Kolkata Knight Riders With Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Ashton Turner, Jofra Archer and Liam Livingstone in their ranks they have an array of match-winning talent. Ajinkye Rahane and Sanju Samson are top Indian players. There is a great balance in the side and with Shane Warne as coach they have a solid tactical brain to back up their on-field efforts. Kings XI may struggle Kings XI Punjab are rightly the one of the outsiders for the tournament. After retaining only 10 of their 2018 squad before the auction they added 13 new faces in a bid to gain a fresh approach. They spent big on the leg-spin of inexperienced all-rounder Varun Chakravarthy at the auction and they will need him to live up to his price-tag. Sam Curran, Mohammad Shami, Moises Henriques and Hardus Viljoen come in too, but even so it's almost impossible to see them challenging. Andrew Tye won the purple cap for his exceptional performance with the ball in 2018 and Punjab need him to come to the party again. The Kings XI missed the play-offs last season by two points after leading the field in the early weeks after winning five of their first six games. They just didn't have the conistency and strength to maintain that threat and it's tough to see that changing. Royals too strong to ignore The Royals have won 10 of the 17 meetings between these two sides, and four of the last six. But the most telling stat is that Kings XI have never won in five attempts at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Kings XI are the better side on this surface and on paper and the price of 1.768/11 is short, but very takeable. Spoilt for choice with Royals mouthwatering batting Jos Buttler is favourite in the market at 3/1, but then there's also Ajinkya Rahane, Steven Smith, Liam Livingstone, Sanju Samson, Ashton Turner, Ben Stoke and a whole host of swashbuckling talent in the order. This is a market to avoid until the batting order and form are more apparent. That said, for me, Buttler is the best T20 batsman in the world at the moment and the price of 3/1 is appealing. There's just too much competition. Gayle and Rahul vital for Punjab If Kings XI are to be a force in IPL 2019 much will depend on Chris Gayle and KL Rahul at the top of their order. When they were in fine form at the start of last season, Punjab performed. When they lost form, Kings XI slipped down the table. Gayle's form in the recent series against England was incredible. He's still capable of butchering a bowling attack as he proved when he smashed 12 sixes in one innings during a supreme ton for West Indies against England. The problem with Gayle is that his great moments are rarer than his failures these days. KL Rahul was right uo there among the top scorers last year and is more trustworthy than Gayle. He will be hungry to impress ahead of the World Cup and is the play at 3/1. The sixes markets are interesting Look down the lineups of both sides and there are sixes coming at every corner. Chris Gayle is potentially the chief destroyer for Kings XI and the great Caribbean striker does not deal in singles. His liking for clearing the ropes means that Punjab are shorter than they should be in the most sixes market. There are many more six-hitters in the Royals camp, just think Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes, and the price on them to hit the most maximums appeals. It was suspended at the time of writing but if Rajasthan come back at anything 10/11 or bigger I'm taking it. *** *Follow James on Twitter @cricket_badger<doc-sep>Steve Smith will return to play for Rajasthan Royals. (Source: IPL) Steve Smith will return to play for Rajasthan Royals. (Source: IPL) All eyes will be on Australian batsman Steve Smith who will be making a comeback to the IPL arena when Rajasthan Royals host Kings XI Punjab in Jaipur on Monday. The former Australia skipper along with David Warner were prohibited from featuring in the previous edition as fallout for their role in the infamous ball-tampering scandal in Cape Town. Smith was last seen in action in the Bangladesh Premier League before he sustained an elbow injury which ruled him out of the rest of the tournament. The 29-year-old had to undergo surgery and is yet to complete his recovery from it. But one can expect the Royals to wait until the last minute to confirm as to whether Smith can make a comeback or not. Smith’s reputation as one of the world’s best batsmen prior to his ban would make it quite a surprise if he gets dropped from the Australian World Cup squad. But Smith will be eager to get into the groove before the start of the big tournament and there could hardly be a better stage than the IPL for that. Apart from Smith, though, there will be significant spotlight on Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes. Buttler was Royals’ driving force last season and has since cemented his place in England squads accross formats. He recently blazed a 150 in 77 balls against a rejuvenated West Indies and looks set to pick up from where he left off last season for RR. Stokes, on the other hand, has experienced a dip in his batting form recently but his all round abilities should keep him in the playing XI. The franchise will also try to make the most of the duo who will return back home on April 25 due to ECB’s diktat because of the World Cup. With Jaydev Unadkat, Varun Aaron, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jofra Archer, Ish Sodhi in the side the bowling unit, Rajasthan have a lot of quality but the lack of experience might be a worry. R Ashwin-led Kings XI Punjab, on the other hand, would heavily bank on the opening pair of Chris Gayle and KL Rahul. The Indian batsman was the third-highest run-getter in the previous edition with 659 runs in 14 innings. Gayle, on the other hand, is returning after a brilliant limited-overs outing with the Windies against England. While Royals would heavily bank on Stokes, the Kings would expect the same from their all-rounder Sam Curran. Ashwin would also take this chance to redeem himself and prove that he still possesses the quality to make a difference in this format. With Mohammed Shami, Andrew Tye and Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Punjab’s bowling look pretty strong. Squads: Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (C), Steve Smith, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Ashton Turner, Ish Sodhi, Oshane Thomas, Liam Livingstone, Sanju Samson, Shubham Ranjane, Stuart Binny, Shreyas Gopal, Sudhesan Midhun, Jaydev Unadkat, Prashant Chopra, Mahipal Lomror, Aryaman Birla, Riyan Parag, Dhawal Kulkarni, Krishnappa Gowtham, Varun Aaron, Shashank Singh, Manan Vohra, Rahul Tripathi Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin (C), Sam Curran, Varun Chakaravarthy, Mohammed Shami, Nicholas Pooran, Moises Henriques, Hardus Viljoen, Darshan Nalkande, Sarfaraz Khan, Arshdeep Singh, Agnivesh Ayachi, Harpreet Brar, Murugan Ashwin, Chris Gayle, Andrew Tye, Lokesh Rahul, Ankit Rajpoot, Mandeep Singh, Simran Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Mujeeb Ur Rahman and David Miller<doc-sep>IPL's inaugural champions Rajasthan Royals (RR) open their IPL 2019 campaign against Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) on Monday at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. Buoyed by the comeback of Steve Smith, Rajasthan Royals captained by Ajinkya Rahane will be up against Ravichandran Ashwin-led Kings XI Punjab who finished seventh last season. Rajasthan Royals, who made a comeback to the IPL following a two-year suspension, made it to the IPL 2018 playoffs courtesy Jos Buttler. The England wicketkeeper-batsman was in prolific form last season as he accumulated 548 runs from 13 matches at an average of 54.80 with a strike-rate of 155.24, ending up as the sixth highest run-getter. Captain Rahane made 370 runs from 14 matches at an average of 28.46. Jaydev Unadkat was once again bought by the Royals this season for Rs 8.4 crore. There will be added pressure on the Saurashtra fast bowler to deliver this season. On the other hand, the 2014 runners-up Kings XI Punjab made a big splash in the auction by buying Varun Chakravarthy, an unknown cricketer from Tamil Nadu, for Rs 8.4 crore. Promoted If KXIP are to perform well this season much will depend on KL Rahul and the 39-year old Chris Gayle. Mayank Agarwal, riding on his prolific form in domestic cricket will also have to play a crucial role if Punjab are to qualify for the playoffs. The two teams have played each other 17 times. RR have won 10 times, while KXIP have come up trumps six times. One match ended without producing a result.<doc-sep>
IPL 2019, Match 4, RR vs KXIP: Match Prediction – Weather Report, Pitch Conditions, Playing XIs and Live Streaming Details Sawai Mansingh stadium has been the fortress for the Royals over the years but the KXIP have the ability to conquer it. The last two of the eight teams to start their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 season will be the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and the Rajasthan Royals (RR). The Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur will host the game which has been kind of fortress for the Royals over the years. Ajinkya Rahane and Ravi Ashwin, two of India’s ousted players from the limited-overs teams, will lead the two teams this season in the IPL. The Royals are normally known to up their game considerably in front of their home crowd. They have got their ace batsman Steve Smith back after a one-year hiatus and with the quality overseas players in their squad, the team looks strong. They registered a few memorable victories at the venue and would be looking to start the season on a high this time as well. The Royals are playing in Pink this year and are hoping to make it to the top four once again. The Kings XI were one of the contenders to win the title last year but they dramatically crashed out thanks to some lacklustre show in the second half of the tournament. Their middle-order was problematic and they’ve worked on it in the auction. Also, the players who were failing in the middle-order have improved a lot over the last 12 months and the franchise will be looking forward to back them. Pitch and Conditions To start the season, the pitch might be a good one for batting. But there is always something for the fast bowlers in Jaipur with a tinge of green on the surface. The chasing team has won 26 out of 40 matches in the IPL and the side winning the toss will opt to bowl. Team Combinations Rajasthan Royals The skipper Rahane is the best bet while opening the innings itself and Jos Buttler will assist him. Steve Smith will undoubtedly conquer the number three slot and will look to bat through the innings most of the times. Sanju Samson and Ben Stokes will follow him and then the all-rounders Krishnappa Gowtham and Shreyas Gopal will come. Both are very good batsmen and decent spinners as well. Jofra Archer, Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni and Varun Aaron are the pacers with Stokes also in the ranks. The Royals have seven bowling options in their team but look a bit thin with the bat. Rahul Tripathi might get a look-in in the middle-order at the expense of Aaron in that case. Probable XI: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Jos Buttler (wk), Steve Smith, Sanju Samson, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni. Kings XI Punjab The undisputed pair of Chris Gayle and Rahul will open the innings for the Kings XI with Agarwal and Nair in the middle-order. Pooran and Mandeep Singh’s inclusion makes their batting line-up look much better than the last year. Varun Chakravarthy and Ravi Ashwin are more than able batsmen and they are the specialist spinners as well. Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ankit Rajpoot and Andrew Tye are the other bowlers in the team. Probable XI: Chris Gayle, KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Sarfaraz Khan, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Mandeep Singh, Sam Curran, Ravi Ashwin (c), Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Ankit Rajpoot, Mohammed Shami. Probable Top Performers Jos Buttler – Rajasthan Royals | Mayank Agarwal – Kings XI Punjab Broadcast Details TV – Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 1 HD Hindi Live Streaming – Hotstar Match Timings: 20:00 IST The prediction is for the Royals to start their IPL 2019 with a win in their home ground.