Royals Aim to Derail Kings in High-Stakes IPL Clash
Unbeaten: Only team without a loss in IPL 2026 — 6 wins, 1 washout from 7 games Top of table: Best NRR at +1.420. Aakash Chopra called them "head and shoulders above the rest "Record-breaking chase: Hunted down 265 vs DC at Kotla — highest successful chase in T20 history Opening carnage: Prabhsimran 76 off 26, Priyansh Arya 43 off 17. 126-run stand in 42 balls, 50 in 2.5 overs vs DC Settled core: First team in 19 years not to make a change in first 7 matches Captain in form: Shreyas Iyer 71* off 36 to finish vs DC.
In IPL 2025, they scored the most runs for any IPL team in one season (3140). This year, they've taken that to another level in their six batting innings by scoring at 11.74 per over. No team has scored runs that quickly ever in the IPL. What's most dangerous is their batting average per wicket - 43.83 - also the highest for any team across all IPL seasons.
After Saturday's performance of completing the highest successful chase in T20 cricket history - with a cool seven balls to spare - they now have 13 points in seven games, a start never before seen in an IPL season.
Do Rajasthan Royals (RR) have the bowling to stop them in the first meeting between the two sides this season? Well, maybe.
Rajasthan Royals – The Potential Roadblock
Form: 3rd place, 10 points from 7 games, NRR +0.790New era: Riyan Parag captain. Traded Sanju Samson to CSK for Ravindra Jadeja + Sam Curran Bowling firepower: Jofra Archer-led attack + Ravi Bishnoi-Jadeja spin. "World-class bowling attack"X-factor: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi — 15-ball fifties, 36-ball 100 vs SRH Concern: Parag struggling — 88 runs in 8 innings, SR 112.82. Sangakkara backing him: "he’s hitting it really well"
PBKS spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has lost his effectiveness after a super start to the season. In his last four outings, he has just one wicket, while his economy in those games has been 11.1. One skill of Chahal's is his ability to eke out dots, but that has gone missing in this period too, averaging just one per over. He is struggling to create pressure and therefore not finding the wickets too. Has the IPL's highest wicket-taker in history lost his spark?
You ask anyone in the RR camp about Riyan Parag's form at press conferences, and the answer is the same: he is hitting it beautifully at the nets. However, with 88 runs in eight innings at a strike rate of 112.82, Parag's numbers are even worse than Hetmyer discussed above. As he is the captain, giving him a break from the XII is a more complex decision. When will Parag's fine touch in the nets convert to some substantial runs on the park?
Pitch no. 4 in New Chandigarh was the one where PBKS met Gujarat Titans, chasing down a target of 163 in a relatively tight finish. Dew is a factor in night games at this venue, and even though chasing looks advantageous at first glance, the numbers say otherwise - the team batting first has won two of the last three games on this strip after posting 205 and 228. The toss decision will be a head-scratcher.
