Jaipur, May 19 (IANS) Rajasthan Royals (RR) won the toss and elected to bowl against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their penultimate game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 league stage at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday.

Three playoff spots have already been sealed, but the battle for the final berth is set to go down to the wire with five teams still in contention. Rajasthan Royals find themselves under pressure after three consecutive defeats, a slump that has seen them go from winning their first four matches to managing just two victories in their last eight games.

Their struggles at Jaipur have only added to the concern, with RR losing all three matches at their original home venue this season. Another defeat today could leave their playoff hopes hanging by a thread, while a win would keep qualification in their own hands.

Standing in their way are Lucknow Super Giants, a side already eliminated from the race but playing with renewed freedom. LSG looked far more relaxed and confident in their previous outing against Chennai Super Kings, and another strong performance on Tuesday could further open up the race for the final playoff spot.

Winning the toss, RR’s stand-in skipper Yashasvi Jaiswal said, “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. Captaincy means a lot to me, and I’m always proud to represent the Rajasthan Royals franchise. Riyan had a hamstring injury, and he’ll be fine soon. I hope so. So, he’s not playing this game. We have three changes. Sandy, Sushant Mishra and Lhuan-dre Pretorious come in.”

“I think we are all speaking to everyone, and I think the mindset and attitude that we will bring out into the ground and just to enjoy the game. 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. Jaddu bhai is recovering. He has some niggles, but he’ll be fine soon,” he added.

Meanwhile, LSG captain Rishabh Pant said, “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. 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:

Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal (c), Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Donovan Ferreira, Shubham Dubey, Dasun Shanaka, Jofra Archer, Sandeep Sharma, Sushant Mishra, Birjesh Sharma, Yash Raj Punja

Impact substitutes: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Aman Perala, Ravi Bishnoi, Riyan Parag

Lucknow Super Giants: Mitchell Marsh, Josh Inglis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni, Rishabh Pant (c & wk), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmad, Mohsin Khan, Mayank Yadav, Akash Singh, Prince Yadav

Impact substitutes: Mukul Choudhary, Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Rathi, Himmat Singh, Arshin Kulkarni

–IANS

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