Rajasthan Royals opt to bowl, Marcus Stoinis debuts for RCB
Stoinis, who has played 19 matches before this for Kings XI Punjab, has scored 262 runs and picked up 13 wickets, replaces de Grandhomme in the Playing XI.
In search of their first win in the tournament, the Royal Challengers Bangalore handed debut to Australia allrounder Marcus Stoinis in Match 14 of the Indian Premiere League after opposition captain Ajinkya Rahane won the toss and opted to bowl at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium. (READ: Match Highlights)
Stoinis, who has played 19 matches before this for Kings XI Punjab, has scored 262 runs and picked up 13 wickets, replaces Colin de Grandhomme in the Playing XI after the New Zealand allrounder failed to impress in the previous three games. Captaining his 100th game, RCB captain Virat Kohli also informed about the inclusion of Akshdeep Nath and Navdeep Saini in place of Prayas Ray Barman and Shivam Dube.
“It’s never nice to start without a win, but we are excited about this game, Kohli said at the toss. “It’s a long tournament, if you get on a roll, you can win plenty. We wanted to bat first, if the pitch gets scruffed up, we might have a good chance. Plus, we have that type of combination, defending makes more sense. We have three changes, Akshdeep Nath replaces Shivam Dube, Navdeep Saini is in for Barman and Stoinis makes his RCB debut – De Grandhomme makes way.”
In the same boat as RCB, Rahane revealed that an injured Sanju Samson misses out and Stuart Binny takes his place. After expensive returns from Jaydev Unadkat, the Royals have gone ahead with pacer Varun Aaron. Coincidentally, both Aaron and Binny are former RCB players.
“We have had three close games, should have closed it. But this is another opportunity and we are looking forward to it,” Royals skipper Rahane said. “We will bowl first, looks like a dry wicket, there might be some dew later on as well. Looking to keep them down to a small score. Sanju Samson is injured and he misses out, Stuart Binny is in. Varun Aaron replaces Jaydev Unadkat.”
Royal Challengers Bangalore Playing XI: Parthiv Patel(w), Moeen Ali, Virat Kohli (capt), AB de Villiers, Shimron Hetmyer, Marcus Stoinis, Akshdeep Nath, Umesh Yadav, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Siraj
Rajasthan Royals Playing XI: Ajinkya Rahane(c), Jos Buttler(w), Rahul Tripathi, Steven Smith, Ben Stokes, Stuart Binny, Krishnappa Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Dhawal Kulkarni, Varun Aaron