Punjab Kings look to roll on

Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal will need to provide Rajasthan Royals a solid start. Pic/AFP; (right) Skipper Shreyas Iyer during Punjab Kings’s practice session in Jaipur on Saturday. Pic/PTI

Punjab Kings will look to renew their bid for a Playoff berth with another commanding performance here on Sunday against Rajasthan Royals, who have failed to rise above mediocrity despite possessing the resources this season.

As action returns to the Sawai Mansingh Stadium after a week-long enforced break, Shreyas Iyer's side will hope to move past the nightmare on May 8, when their match against Delhi Capitals in scenic Dharamsala had to be called off due to India-Pakistan border tensions, forcing the players to return to their dressing rooms in pitch darkness.

As PBKS take the field on Sunday, comfortably placed at the third spot on the table with 15 points from 11 games, there would be some scepticism with regard to the changes in the line-up owning to the enforced break.

The absence of the tall South African pacer Marco Jansen, who has been called back by Cricket South Africa, would hurt Iyer's side the most as he had made quite an impact this season, scalping 11 wickets.

On the bowling front too, PBKS have the services of frontline pacer Arshdeep Singh and in-form spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who has so far taken 14 wickets in 11 games with a best of 4-28 and an economy rate of below 10.

The hosts have already been eliminated from the Playoff race and currently languish in ninth place on the points table with just three wins from 12 matches.

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