Rajasthan Royals vs Kings XI Punjab, Sharjah

Pro Tip
Pack your team with batsmen from both teams and expect yet another high scoring game at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium

Our XI: Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson, KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Steven Smith, Glenn Maxwell, Tom Curran, Jofra Archer, Mohammed Shami, Ravi Bishnoi

Substitutes: Sheldon Cottrell, Rahul Tewatia, Nicholas Pooran, Jaydev Unadkat

NOTE: We might not always be able to tip you off about late injury (or other relevant) updates, so please finalise your team after the toss.

Player availability: All players are available including Jos Buttler who missed the last game.

Captain: Jos Buttler
Buttler has had a week off after the ODI series against Australia and would be eager to resume playing his preferred format. In his last three T20I innings, Buttler scored 178 runs at a strike rate of 158.92. His performance against the Kings XI have been impressive since 2018: 225 runs in four innings at a strike rate of 143.41.

Vice-captain: KL Rahul
Rahul has continued his purple patch even after a six-month break. His 132 not out against the Royal Challengers is the highest individual score for an Indian in the IPL. With his ability to clear long boundaries, he is likely to make the most of the Sharjah ground dimensions.

Hot Picks
Glenn Maxwell
Though Maxwell has had a couple of failures in as many games this season, he could find form against the Kings XI. Rahul tossed him the ball against the Royal Challengers and the Australian returned a wicket. In the ODI series against England, he struck a fifty and a hundred against a Jofra Archer-led attack.

Chris Gayle
This could be the right time for the Kings XI to unleash Gayle: a small ground, a batting-friendly surface and a couple of legspinners in the opposition XI - all could favour Gayle's style of batting. Gayle has a strike rate of 197.14 against legspinners, the highest among all batsmen who've faced 100 or more balls from legspinners in T20s since 2018.

Mohammed Shami
Shami has been bowling with great rhythm and pace. He's looked peerless in the pace-bowling department across teams so far this season. He has picked up four wickets at an economy of 4.14. Even in a small ground without much help for the pacers, Shami is a key pick. Since 2018, Shami has had an economy of 6.80 in the powerplay, the best among all seamers who have picked up five or more wickets in the phase.

Differential Picks
Ravi Bishnoi
The young leggie has been given the ball in tough situations and has still come on top. He has picked up 4 wickets at an economy of 6.75. The small ground and big hitters in the Royals line-up will be another challenge for Bishnoi but we expect him to ace it yet again. Tom Curran: After a forgettable outing the Super Kings, many may not pick Curran. But a bowler with as many variations as Curran is very handy on this ground. Even though he has an economy of 9.99 in the death since 2018 in all T20s, he also has a SR of 9.9 suggesting he will get you a wicket or two more often than not.

Alternate Scenarios

• Wait until the toss to see if Buttler keeps wickets. If Sanju Samson does, make Buttler your vice-captain and Rahul your captain to maximise on points as Rahul will surely keep wickets for the Kings XI.

• Chris Gayle should be brought into the XI given the ground dimensions and the two legspinners in the Royals' line-up. Since 2017 in all T20s, Gayle has struck at 182.93 against leg spin.

• If Gayle does not play, pick one of the the Royals legspinners ahead of Tom Curran since there's expected to be only one left-handed batsman in the top six for the Kings XI

• Royals' line-up is filled with right-handed batsmen, so playing both the Kings XI legspinners could also be an option instead of one of their batsmen.