Rajasthan Royals Bowl First in IPL 2026 Clash Against CSK After Rain Delay

This is the first time RR and CSK meet in the IPL since Sanju Samson and Ravindra Jadeja swapped teams, while Riyan Parag starts his run as the former's full-time captain. After winning the toss, local lad Parag said Nandre Burger, Jofra Archer, Donovan Ferraria (in Impact Substitutes list), and Shimron Hetmyer are their overseas players, with the decision to bowl first influenced by rain and overcast conditions.

RR have also given a debut to Bengal pacer Brijesh Sharma, who caught the eye of their scouts after playing in last year's Bengal T20 league. "There's been a lot of rain here actually. So even though it is a red soil wicket, there's going to be a little moisture. So we want to try and extract that in the first few overs and then see how we go back into the game. It feels nice and very overwhelming (to captain RR).

"I've been with this franchise for eight years now and then seeing the transition that has happened from me being a 17-year-old to being here as captain, I feel the support has been incredible. All my peers have been really supportive and very helpful towards me. So hopefully a good campaign for us.

"I think the goal is to win the championship. With the trades and the auction, I think what we've tried to do is have a lot of smart cricketers, a lot of all-rounders and people who have different skills, so that when we get conditions like this or a flat wicket in Mumbai or a green top in Kolkata, we can adapt and play accordingly. So that's the plan," he said.

CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad said Matthew Short, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmed and Matt Henry are their overseas players in the playing eleven, with Kartik Sharma handed an IPL debut. "It was a no-brainer to bowl first actually. The wicket has been under the covers for a long time now, with overcast conditions as well, so we would have loved to bowl first, but nevertheless, we'll look to start positively.

"Well, it was not something which we decided at the start of the cycle, but you saw how the last year really went for us. That is how we thought we'll go into the auction with some strategy behind it, whatever options that are available, what are the best options that are available and buy them into the team and buy them into the culture and let's hope that they go really well.

"So that was the thought process behind it and hopefully it will work. We're going with seven batters to start with. Hopefully if we get a start well, maybe the impact sub will come on later," he said.

Playing XIs:

Chennai Super Kings: Sanju Samson (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad (captain), Ayush Mhatre, Matthew Short, Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, Jamie Overton, Noor Ahmad, Matt Henry, Anshul Kamboj, and Khaleel Ahmed

Impact Substitutes: Sarfaraz Khan, Prashant Veer, Rahul Chahar, Gurjapneet Singh, and Ramakrishna Ghosh

Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Riyan Parag (captain), Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Shimron Hetmyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Sandeep Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, and Brijesh Sharma

Impact Substitutes: Donovan Ferreira, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Sushant Mishra, and Tushar Deshpande

- IANS