RR vs CSK IPL 2023 Highlights: Royals go back to top of the tabe with 32-run win over Chennai

Buttler just helps the back of a length delivery along to third man and that rolls away to the boundary.

Tushar Deshpande bowling from the other end, sends in a length ball outside off first up and Buttler leans into a sumptuous cover drive.

12 runs off the first four balls for Jaiswal. Akash trying to cramp him but ends up going too full, Jaiswal clips it away past short mid.

Akash pulls his length back, trying to find the swing but Jaiswal goes for a cover drive again and nails it.

Akash goes a bit too full outside off, Jaiswal creams it through covers. That's a nice way to start the match.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler walk out for RR, Akash Singh has the ball in his hands for CSK. Here we go!

"We would have bowled first. This pitch here has decent amount of pace but the bounce is on the lower side so bowlers need to adapt soon. At the end of the day, you need characters, we are trying to build characters, trying to convince them to focus on process. The result doesn't matter. We are playing the same side."

“We would like to bat first. We like to stick to our strength, which is to defend. It feels really great to play RR's 200th game, feels great to be playing for 10 years. Would love to see some pink here today, but it's yellow and we know that the reason is (smiles). Boult misses out due to a niggle, Zampa is playing in his place.”

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana, Akash Singh

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Adam Zampa, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal

Sanju Samson wins the toss and Rajasthan Royals will bat first. 

MSD standing out there with Sanju Samson, a lot of yellow shirts in Jaipur as Dhoni's farewell India tour continues. 

Sanju Samson started off with a bang, scoring 97 runs in the first two games. But he has made only 84 in the next five.

Adam Zampa did play against CSK CSK two weeks ago. The Australian legspinner could come back in contention especially with the Royals not making great use of Jason Holder's all-round abilities.

Rajasthan Royals may be the underdogs somewhat in this game considering recent form but their home record states otherwise. Royals have enjoyed a terrific record at home over the years, winning 32 out of 48 games

For years and years, Ajinkya Rahane was pigeon-holed as a Test player. That is not a bad pigeon-hole to be in, being considered a Test quality cricketer is but an honour only a few in the world can claim and establish themselves as. Andre Russell, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga are some of the players who are rightly regarded as greats of the game and yet never really established themselves in the longest format of the game due to multiple reasons and so that tells you just how difficult it can be. And yet, it wasn't a good thing for Rahane because he has been considered completely out of the Indian T20 setup and his middling returns whenever he played in the IPL recently haven't helped. Not so this season. Rahane currently has 209 runs in five matches at an astonishing strike rate of 199.04 and average of 52.25 to boot. His highest was a truly astonishing knock of 71 not out off... wait for it... 29 balls (!!!), which included six fours and five sixes. Wonder what Rajasthan Royals can do about the monster that in some ways they have created - what we are seeing this season is an even more aggressive version of Ajinkya Rahane than what was seen in his early IPL days with RR. 

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana, Akash Singh, Dwaine Pretorius, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, RS Hangargekar, Mitchell Santner, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, Bhagath Varma, Nishant Sindhu

Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Devdutt Padikkal, Sanju Samson(w/c), Shimron Hetmyer, Dhruv Jurel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Jason Holder, Trent Boult, Sandeep Sharma, Yuzvendra Chahal, Abdul Basith, Akash Vasisht, Donavon Ferreira, Murugan Ashwin, KM Asif, Riyan Parag, Joe Root, Adam Zampa, Navdeep Saini, KC Cariappa, Obed McCoy, Kuldip Yadav, Kuldeep Sen, Kunal Singh Rathore

CSK have lost just once in their last five games. That is the good news, the bad is that, it was against RR themselves. But they can take solace from the fact that they were arguably the better side in that game and came within three runs of the win.

Rajasthan Royals beat the Delhi Capitals by a whopping 57 runs on April 8 after which they beat CSK by 3 runs in a thriller of a game. This was followed by another thrilling three-wicket win over Gujarat Titans but then came the losses. First they were beaten by Lucknow Super Giants by 10 runs and then lost to Royal Challengers Bangalore by 7.

RR and CSK meet each other once again with both sides on two ends of the form spectrum. Rajasthan's initial success has been somewhat dampened by the two consecutive defeats they have suffered in their last two matches while Chennai are flying high with Ajinkya Rahane being the toast of the season. One thing is for sure though; these two sides have been among the best in the league this season and we might as well be seeing a dress rehearsal today of one of the post-league stage matches, even the final.