RR send bowl first, RCB off to a good start

The Rajasthan Royals won the toss and elected to field first against Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the 19th match of the IPL 2024 at Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Saturday.

After 7 overs, RCB are 60/0 with Virat Kohli and Du Plessis batting on 35 and 17, respectively.

Captain Sanju Samson stated that they they chose to bowl first due to the fresh wicket, and are expecting some assistance from the seamers and anticipating dew later on. 

Samson stressed the importance of players taking responsibility and finishing games, mentioning that they will stick with the same team lineup.

"We would like to bowl first on this wicket. Something to do with the opposition, it's a fresh wicket, expecting some help for the seamers and expecting some dew as well. It's a long season, people are taking responsibility and finishing games. We are going in with the same team," he said at the toss.

On the other hand, Faf du Plessis, the captain of the opposing team, expressed similar sentiments about the pitch, believing it to be good for batting throughout both innings. 

However, he acknowledged his team's inconsistency and the need to improve. 

Du Plessis mentioned a change in their batting lineup, introducing Saurav Chauhan, a player with significant skill and batting power, whom he described as calm and relatively unknown to many.

"We were thinking of the same, it looks like a good wicket, think it will remain the same in both innings. We have one change in our batting lineup. For me, it's just a case of trusting our guys. We have been inconsistent, we get an opportunity to do things better. 

"We are trying to find the roles for the players, we are looking for that. That hasn't worked as yet. We haven't delivered. Not many people know him (Saurav Chauhan), he has some serious amount of skill and batting power, looks like a nice and calm guy," he said.

Teams
Royal Challengers Bengaluru (Playing XI): Virat Kohli, Faf du Plessis(c), Rajat Patidar, Glenn Maxwell, Cameron Green, Dinesh Karthik(w), Saurav Chauhan, Reece Topley, Mayank Dagar, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Dayal

Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Nandre Burger, Yuzvendra Chahal.