IPL 2024: RR wins toss, elects to field first against PBKS; Curran leading Punjab in Dhawan’s absence

Mullanpur (Punjab) [India], April 13 (ANI): Rajasthan Royals (RR) skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and elected to field first against Punjab Kings (PBKS) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match at Mullanpur Stadium here on Saturday.
RR is at the top with four wins and a loss and their winning streak was ended by Gujarat Titans (GT) in their last match. PBKS is in the eighth spot with two wins and three losses. They lost their previous match to Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH).
Shikhar Dhawan, the regular PBKS skipper, RR's Jos Buttler and Ravichandran Ashwin are not playing the game, with all of them having niggles. Sam Curran is leading PBKS in place of Dhawan.
PBKS skipper Curran said at the toss, "Shikhar picked up a niggle, that is why I am here. We would have bowled first as well, but we will now have to put the runs on the board. The balance has been good, we would have liked to win a few more games, but the middle-order looks good, especially Shashank and Ashutosh. We have got exciting players and plenty of quality. We have (Atharva) Taide coming in for Shikhar tonight."
RR skipper Sanju Samson said at the toss, "We will bowl first, it looks like a decent wicket to bowl first. We have made a target to not think about the goal, focus on the process, work on building the team and we are doing well. A lot of challenges outside as well, we have many players missing from tonight's game. Jos is not 100 per cent, Ash bhai is having a niggle, so Rovman (Powell) and (Tanush) Kotian come into the XI."
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Jonny Bairstow, Atharva Taide, Prabhsimran Singh, Sam Curran(c), Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Sanju Samson(w/c), Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Tanush Kotian, Keshav Maharaj, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Kuldeep Sen, Yuzvendra Chahal. (ANI)