Both sides head into the match with contrasting fortunes, as the CSK brigade are coming off two successive victories, and are comfortably placed at the third position in the IPL points tally with four wins from their six outings so far.
Suniel Shetty shares a touching birthday message for son-in-law KL Rahul, capturing the warmth of their bond amidst family celebrations.
In Yadav's absence, another rookie pacer, Yash Thakur grabbed the opportunity with both hands, and starred with a five-wicket haul against GT.
Currently tottering at the 8th place in the 10-team IPL standings, RCB have two points from three matches, and alarmingly their net run rate has plummeted to -0.71 after a heavy defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders in their previous outing at home last week.
Rajasthan Royals, the inaugural IPL champions, had finished second to Gujarat Titans in 2022, and looked good in the initial stages even last season before slipping to a fifth place finish in the end.
It was not a great day at the office for DC bowlers as LSG batters smashed them all over the park. A 95-run stand between Rahul and Hooda troubled the opposition. Shardul Thakur was the only one who could offer some resistance against LSG, picking up all three wickets for DC.
Lucknow, who have won six matches so far, made one change in their playing XI as Krishnappa Gowtham came in place of Avesh Khan.
The ultra-aggressive and big-hitting batting line-up of Punjab flattered to deceive yet again to slump to a 20-run defeat at the hands of Lucknow Super Giants at MCA Stadium here on Friday.
This was the team's second offence of the season under the IPL's code of conduct relating to minimum over-rate offences. Lucknow Super Giants captain, KL Rahul was fined Rs 24 lakhs and the rest of the members in the playing eleven were fined Rs 6 lakhs or 25 per cent of their match fee, whichever is lower.
Chasing 169 for a win, Mumbai Indians were in a good position after the powerplay and despite losing Ishan Kishan, had Rohit Sharma batting well and their in-form batter Suryakumar Yadav in the middle. The loss of concentration in the middle overs however, eventually led to the team's 8th consecutive loss.
