Match 36 of the 2025 Indian Premier League season brings us a crucial mid-table clash between an inconsistent Rajasthan Royals side and a hot-and-cold Lucknow Super Giants side at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on April 19.
For the game, here are our preview and predictions.
Indian Premier League 2025 | Match 36: Rajasthan Royals vs Lucknow Super Giants | 19:30 IST, April 19
The Royals are currently sitting in eighth place, having won just two of their first seven games, while the fifth-placed Super Giants were on a three-match winning run after a wobbly start before being stunned in their last match by the Chennai Super Kings.
RR, beaten in some games rather comprehensively this season, mostly have themselves to blame for their predicament. Case in point, their last match against the Delhi Capitals was theirs for the taking, but some average bowling and poor fielding resulted in DC posting 188/5 in the first innings. In response, RR had the chase completely under control, with Yashasvi Jaiswal (51 off 37) continuing his impressive run of form and Nitish Rana (51 off 28) powering through the middle overs to put the team in a comfortable position.
With nine runs required off the last over, the Royals were in the driving seat, but a quality final over from Mitchell Starc took the game to a Super Over, which further summed up their night as two naive mistakes from their batters resulted in two run-outs and DC chased down the 12-run target with relative ease.
LSG, on the other hand, were humbled at home by the Super Kings after winning three on the bounce. Like the Gujarat Titans, they depend heavily on their top order to do the bulk of the scoring. In their last game, with both Aiden Markram (6) and Nicholas Pooran (8) failing to go big, LSG could only hobble to 166/7, though Rishabh Pant’s knock (63 off 49) would have been a massive positive.
In terms of their bowling, fast bowler Mayank Yadav is reportedly on his way back for his first game of the season, returning from an injury, which will be something to look out for in the coming games.
Looking ahead to this game, both teams will be gunning to return to winning ways. Pitches in Rajasthan tend to assist seamers while also offering runs to batters, though the last surface was on the drier side and showed its two-paced nature as the match wore on.
On paper, both sides have strong, in-form batting lineups, but LSG now have that X-Factor in their lineup they’ve been craving for. It will be interesting to see whether Yadav is match-ready or not, but there’s every chance he becomes the difference-maker for LSG, whom we back to win this game.
Fantasy XI: Nicholas Pooran (c), Rishabh Pant, Dhruv Jurel, Nitish Rana, Aiden Markram, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Ayush Badoni, Wanindu Hasaranga, Digvesh Rathi, Mayank Yadav (vc), Jofra Archer
Venue: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur
Winners Prediction: Lucknow Super Giants
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