Lockie Ferguson of Punjab Kings during the warm-up session (ANI Photo) NEW DELHI: League leaders Punjab Kings have given their bowling attack a major boost with the inclusion of Lockie Ferguson as they take on Rajasthan Royals in a crucial Indian Premier League 2026 match on Tuesday.Rajasthan skipper Riyan Parag won the toss and opted to bowl first at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, citing early humidity due to recent rain and cloud cover.
Ferguson’s signing for unbeaten Punjab
All eyes were on the Punjab team sheet as the hosts brought on express pacer Ferguson in place of Xavier Bartlett, signaling a clear intention to sharpen their pace attack. The raw pace of the New Zealand fast bowler is expected to play a key role, especially in conditions that could help the sears early on.
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Axar Patel shares a big update on Mitchell StarcPunjab also made a forced change with Suryansh Shedge replacing Shashank Singh in the playing XI.Captain Shreyas Iyer admitted he would have preferred to bat first but remained confident of his side’s adaptability. “Whenever you bat or bowl, it’s a big challenge. We’re all proactive regardless of the pitch,” he said.Talking about consistency, Iyer added: “We have a certain target that we want to achieve and we know the end goal. Our mindset is about maintaining the standards and the values. It has been great so far and we have to maintain the momentum.”Punjab go into the competition as the only unbeaten team this season and will be keen to consolidate their position at the top of the table.
The Royals look to take advantage of the early conditions
For Rajasthan, Parag emphasized the importance of early penetration. “There’s a bit of moisture at the start so we’re trying to extract that and get a couple of early wickets,” he said.The Royals made two changes of their own, bringing on Dasun Shanak for Shimron Hetmyer and Yash Punja for Ravi Bishnoi.Currently in fourth place, Rajasthan have a chance to climb higher with a win but face a confident Punjab unit riding a wave of momentum.With Ferguson’s pace added to an already potent attack featuring Arshdeep Singh and Marc Jansen, Punjab will look to make early breakthroughs and extend their dominant run in IPL 2026.
PBKS vs RR Playing XI
Punjab Kings XI: Prabhsimran Singh(w), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer(c), Cooper Connolly, Suryansh Shedge, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.Rajasthan Royals XI: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Dasun Shanaka, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, Yash Raj Punja
