Rajasthan Royals have finally come home to the Sawai Mansingh stadium in Jaipur after playing a total of five matches in their IPL 2025 campaign. The Royals were calling Guwahati their home in the initial phase of the tournament and has struggled to find consistency so far in the season. After starting with two defeats, they found form with a thrilling win over CSK and then beating PBKS in Mullanpur.
Just when everyone thought the Royals had turned a corner, the defeat to GT brought them back to reality. For RCB, it has been a season of two polar opposites. While they have been sensational away from home, their exploits at the Chinnaswamy stadium have been underwhelming. Away from home, Bengaluru has secured wins against KKR at Eden Gardens, MI at Wankhede and finally breached fortress Chepauk with a massive win over CSK.
However, their loss to DC was a tough spill for RCB to swallow as they looked set for a big total before the unfortunate run-out of Phil Salt triggered a collapse of sorts. While the bowling away from home has been sensational, at home, things have been different.
For the Royals, the biggest plus point has been finding the right pattern when it comes to their bowling. Jofra Archer seems to be back to his brilliant best and Sandeep Sharma continues to be a handy customer. The batting order needs some of the stars to step up massively as the dependence on the Indian core hasn’t really been effective.
RR vs RCB: Head-to-Head
In the 32 matches played between these two teams in the IPL, RCB lead the head-to-head stats 15-14 with 3 matches ending in a no-result. Last season, the Royals defeated Bengaluru in the league phase before ending their magical run in the 2024 season by beating them in the eliminator stage of the playoffs.
RR vs RCB: Team news
The Royals were without the services of Wanindu Hasaranga in their last game as the Sri Lankan was out due to personal reasons. Hasaranga will now return to the squad for the game on Sunday and expect him to be back in the playing XI.
RCB, on the other hand, are unlikely to make any changes to their away combination. However, if they’re in the mood for an experiment, maybe they could hand Jacob Bethell a chance in place of the misfiring Liam Livingstone.
RR vs RCB: Predicted XIs
Rajasthan Royals: Sanju Samson (capt, wk), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag, Dhruv Jurel, Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Shubham Dubey, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande/Kumar Kartikeya.
Impact sub: Sandeep Sharma.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Phil Salt, Virat Kohli, Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar (capt), Liam Livingstone/Jacob Bethell, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Tim David, Krunal Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, Yash Dayal.
Impact Sub: Suyash Sharma
RR vs RCB: Jaipur pitch report
This is the first match at the Sawai Mansingh stadium this season and it is uncertain what can be expected from the track. However, the average score at the ground has been 187 and teams usually prefer to chase at the ground.
RR vs RCB: Weather forecast
It is expected to be a hot day in Jaipur on Sunday, April 12 as the temperature is expected to be in the 38 degree celsius range till the match gets over.
