Punjab Kings, on the other hand, will be full of confidence after defeating table-toppers GT by eight wickets. Mayank Agarwal’s team will be eager to keep the winning streak going as they attempt to break out of the mid-table rut and move closer to a playoff berth.

Rajasthan are currently third in the points rankings, thanks largely to the flamboyant Jos Buttler. With 588 runs, the Englishman is the league’s leading scorer. He fought alone with the bat against Mumbai, and he failed to build on his start against KKR. Rajasthan was defeated in both games.

Sanju Samson, the captain, and Devdutt Padikkal, the other two men at the top, have been good in parts but need to take on more responsibility, especially with the team shuffled to number four. They can rip apart any bowling attack if they get going with Shimron Hetymar’s strong hitting.

Three of Rajasthan’s four losses have occurred while setting a total, therefore the inaugural edition winners must improve their game while batting first.

The Royals boast one of the greatest bowling assaults in the league, if not the best, but their bowlers have failed to defend 158 and 152 in their past two games.

In the win over the Titans, the bowling attack was spot on, limiting them to just 150 yards.

After a disappointing season by his standards, South African pace spearhead Kagiso Rabada has been on a tear, taking four wickets in each of the last two games.

Punjab’s bowling assault is formidable and diverse. Arshadeep Singh has also been outstanding this season, and although not picking up many wickets, the 23-year-old has bowled efficiently.

Riyan Parag smashed a match-defining unbeaten half-century before the bowling unit lived up to its reputation to hand Rajasthan Royals a 29-run win over Royal Challengers Bangalore in an Indian Premier League match on Tuesday. Parag (56 not out off 31 balls) single-handedly took his side to 144 for 8 with his unbeaten half-century, which is his highest score in IPL.

Parag marshalled the RR lower-order brilliantly and smashed Parag for a boundary and two huge sixes in the final over to take RR to a decent total after being sent in to bat.

Yuzvendra Chahal is the Player of the Match. He says his celebration used to be a trending meme and that’s why he chose it. Mentions, he tried to mix up deliveries and aimed to bowl wide. He also adds that he was tempted to bowl the googly to Cummins but went against it.

Sanju Samson the skipper of Rajasthan, says that it got a bit tensed but that is the beauty of the Indian T20 League. He further said that they need to understand the momentum of the game and understand when to slow things down. Informs that Kolkata is a strong unit and they knew they would come hard at them. States that they are really grateful for all the individuals in the team and everyone played a part today. Adds that Ravichandran Ashwin taking the wicket of Andre Russell was crucial, even Devdutt Padikkal’s innings were important. Concludes by saying that it was a team performance and they hope to carry on the same way.

In retaliation, Sherfane Rutherford (28), David Willey (18) and Shahbaz Ahmed (27) played crucial innings as RCB survived some nervous moments before overhauling the target, scoring 132 for 7 in 19.2 overs after Tim Southee (3/20) and Umesh Yadav (2/16) blew away their top-order.

Earlier, KKR batters were having a tough time with the extra bounce and went for shots too many despite losing wickets at regular intervals.

None of the batters could capitalise on the starts as KKR lost six wickets for 57 runs to slip from 44 for 3 to 101 for 9 in 14.3 overs.

Andre Russell was the highest scorer for KKR with a 18-ball 25, while Umesh Yadav (18) and Varun Chakravarthy (10) added 27 runs, the fourth-highest for the 10th wicket in IPL history.

Venkatesh Iyer was the first to be dismissed with Akash Deep striking on his first delivery, while Ajinkya Rahane’s shaky start ended when he was holed out in the fifth over off Siraj as KKR slipped to 32 for 2.

Daniel Vettori, a veteran of the game, in his exclusive interview with ESPNcrickinfo, threw light on some of the reasons behind why he thinks several big players were dropped from the team. Vettori said, “for franchise like Rajasthan and Kings who have been underperforming and perennially out of the playoffs, players don’t always want to come back. They want to explore the opportunities and potentially go to a winning franchise.”

Stokes, according to him, is someone who would like to look for a new challenge or a change in scenery that would open up opportunities for him to win the title. At the same time, Jofra Archer’s case is a little different for Vetorri. The former New Zealand skipper believes that Archer’s long spell with injuries could have been on the mind of Rajasthan owners when they decided to drop him. “His injury and workload concerns and that he (Stokes) and Archer play so much cricket, how are they going to be available for the full season and they haven’t been so,” Vettori added.

On the other hand, Punjab Kings has had a different problem altogether. According to Kumble, in a conversation with Star Sports said, “he (Rahul) decided to go into the auction. We respect that, we honour his decision. It’s the player’s prerogative.”

Welcome to #VIVOIPLRetention @RCBTweets have zeroed down on the retention list 👍

What do you make of it? 🤔#VIVOIPL pic.twitter.com/77AzHSVPH5

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

First up was RCB, who got the chance to announce their players, and it did not surprise anyone that they chose to go with their legendary batter Virat Kohli, allrounder Glenn Maxwell, and Pace bowler Mohammad Siraj. The exclusion of Yuzvendra Chahal and Harshal Patel perplexed everyone.

The @mipaltan retention list is out!

Comment below and let us know what do you make of it❓#VIVOIPLRetention pic.twitter.com/rzAx6Myw3B

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

Mumbai Indians was the second team to announce their retention. They decided to go with four players to ensure that they had a solid base to form a team around. Their players included Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Surya Kumar Yadav, and Kieron Pollard. It was surprising to see that both the Pandya brothers alongside Trent Boult were not retained.

Here's the @PunjabKingsIPL retention list 👍#VIVOIPLRetention pic.twitter.com/ABl5TWLFhG

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

Punjab Kings have only retained two players in the form of Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh. With KL Rahul opting to head into the mega auction, Punjab Kings did not have many options. However, the exclusion of Ravi Bishnoi and Shahrukh Khan after a great season in the 2021 edition is unexplainable.

Take a look at the @SunRisers retention list 👍#VIVOIPLRetention pic.twitter.com/fXv62OyAkA

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

Last year’s bottom-dwellers, Sunrisers Hyderabad, retained just three players. It was unprecedented to see them going with two uncapped players in the form of Abdul Samad and Umran Malik. They did retain Kane Williamson, who will also be their captain, but they still have a task at hand while heading into the mega auction.

The @ChennaiIPL retention list is out! 👌

Take a look! 👇#VIVOIPLRetention pic.twitter.com/3uyOJeabb6

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

The champions of last year, Chennai Super Kings, were spoilt for choice about whom to retain and whom to let go. But it did not come as a surprise that they chose to retain Ravindra Jadeja, ahead of MS Dhoni. They must be planning to form a team around Jadeja in the coming years. While the other two players retained by CSK were Moeen Ali and Ruturaj Gaikwad. Yet again, Deepak Chahar and Shadul Thakur’s absence from the list will remain a talking point.

How is that for a retention list, @delhicapitals fans❓#VIVOIPLRetention pic.twitter.com/x9dzaWRaCR

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

2020’s finalist Delhi Capitals, who have grown several folds in the past few years, also decided to retain four players. It contained their captain for last season, Rishabh Pant, Axar Patel, Prithvi Shaw, and Anrich Nortje. They, too, left out Kagiso Rabada, Marcus Stoinis, and Ashwin, who have been some of their marquee players in recent years.

Here's @KKRiders's #VIVOIPL retention list 👍#VIVOIPLRetention pic.twitter.com/mc4CKiwxZL

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

Kolkata Knight Riders, who emerged as the dark horse in last year’s IPL, also decided to go with four players. Their first retention was Andre Russel, followed by Venkatesh Iyer, Varun Chakravarthy, and Sunil Narine. They were the only team who decided not to retain their captain, Eoin Morgan. The absence of Shubman Gill from the list was also unexpected.

.@rajasthanroyals fans, what do you make of the retention list? 🤔#VIVOIPLRetention pic.twitter.com/JgrLm09mkv

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) November 30, 2021

Rajasthan Royals were the last team on the list, and they decided to retain three of their players. The first one on their list was their captain Sanju Samson, followed by explosive batter Jos Buttler and uncapped player Yashasvi Jaiswal. Ben Stokes was missing from the list, perhaps due to his recent absence from the international circuit following an injury.

The team retention has ensured that the mega auction is going to be gigantic. All the ten teams will be going neck to neck to make the most of this auction and set up a team for the coming years.

Similarly, Yuzvendra Chahal, Rishabh Pant, and Nitish Rana were captured attending the ceremony to extend their congratulations to their newly wedded couple for the future.

The news of his marriage comes as a surprise for the netizens. Soon after the images of his marriage became viral, wishes started pouring in from worldwide. This proves that Tewatia is currently one of the hottest topics of discussion all around the Indian domestic circuit.

The 28-year-old allrounder broke into the scene during the 2020 edition of IPL, in which he played a pivotal role for his team. In one of the fascinating encounters of that year’s IPL, Tewatia smoked Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over to complete a majestic win over the Punjab Kings.

His performance in the IPL and later in the gala T20 competition earned him the first call-up for the national team in the tour against Sri Lanka. Although his debut remains due, Tewatia has undoubtedly made an impact on the selectors. And it’s about time he gets a chance to showcase his talent at the biggest stage of the game.