IPL 2022: Will high-flying RR remain unchanged? Predicting Sanju Samson & Co.'s playing XI for DC clash

Match 34 of the IPL 2022 edition will see the one-time winners Rajasthan Royals (RR) take on the Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on Friday evening (April 22). The match has been shifted from MCA Stadium, Pune to Mumbai in the wake of the Covid crisis in the Delhi camp.

Talking about the fortunes of both sides so far, the Rajasthan franchise have won four out of six games and are sitting at the third position in the points table. On the other hand, Delhi have won and lost three games each to be languishing at the sixth position. However, both sides are coming into this fixture on the back of a win in their last outings.

The RR franchise have been impressive so far. Their top order has been on fire, particularly due to Jos Buttler's red-hot form. Buttler already has two centuries and a half-century and, thus, will be desperate to move on in a similar stead in the remaining season. Skipper Sanju Samson was again blown hot and cold but has looked in good touch mostly. Shimron Hetmyer has been excellent as a finisher whereas they also have enough firepower in the bowling department.

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Here's predicting RR's XI for DC encounter:

Buttler and Devdutt Padikkal will continue to open the innings with captain Samson at No. 3. Shimron Hetmyer and Riyan Parag will follow suit. Playing Karun Nair at No. 6 doesn't make much sense as he is more of a top-order batter. It will be interesting to see if they continue with him at the same position or shuffle the batting order (or bring back Yashasvi Jaiswal). The rest of the line-up will be followed by the bowlers, such as R Ashwin, Trent Boult,Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal and Prasidh Krishna.

RR remain a bowler-short and will benefit immensely by adding an all-rounder at the expense of Karun Nair. Nonetheless, their foreign players seem more or less certain at the moment (which took the field versus KKR). Hence, they are more likely to go unchanged and will expect their main batters and bowlers to continue to do the job.

RR XI vs DC: Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Karun Nair, R Ashwin,Obed McCoy, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal