This one's #ForWarnie.

14 years after becoming the first-ever champions of the IPL, the Royals return to the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai once again, this time to celebrate the life and times of the man who led them there - Shane Warne. The First Royal, leader, mentor and an inspiration. It is befitting that the Royals gather to celebrate Warne’s legacy at the very ground where he helped his team script history. To make the occasion even more special, we’ll be surrounded by his family, friends and fans - people who’ve had the privilege of knowing the Spin King up close or from a distance, but all impacted by his genius. As part of our tribute to Warnie, our players will be sporting specially designed match kits when they take the field against Mumbai Indians on Saturday, with his initials ‘SW23’ featuring on the lead collar of their jersey. Our coaches and members of the support staff will be seen wearing special jerseys with ‘Warne 23’ written on the backside. It is our ode to his illustrious career that contributed massively to the game, his undying passion that inspired generations of cricketers, his fighting spirit that taught us never to give up, and his charismatic personality that made him an instant fan favourite.

A special Shane Warne mural will greet fans and spectators as they enter the stadium premises on the matchday. There’s also a tribute gallery inside, where ticket-holders will be able to take a walk through the life of the greatest leg-spinner in the world through unseen pictures and videos.

On the field and in our hearts, his memories will always live. This one is #ForWarnie.

Match Details

Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians - 30 April 2022

DY Patil Sports Academy, Navi Mumbai

7:30 PM IST

The Royals are in red-hot form and high on momentum, coming off three consecutive wins. Their opponents though are yet to collect their first two points of the season. The last time these two teams faced off, Jos Buttler\"s splendid hundred lit up the DY Patil Stadium and the Royals walked away with a 23-run win. Overall, both teams have enjoyed playing against each other, with the Royals winning 12 of their 25 encounters in the IPL and Mumbai slightly ahead with 13. However, the Royals have dominated this rivalry since 2018, winning six of their last nine matches against Mumbai.

In the 13 matches played at the venue this season, teams have opted to bowl first on 12 occasions, and have won on seven of those. The average first-innings score in IPL 2022 here has been 170 and the fast bowlers have continued to take wickets at a better rate than spinners. They\"ve accounted for 111 scalps in 26 innings so far.

Player battle to watch

Trent Boult vs Rohit Sharma

A struggling Rohit Sharma will be up against the menace of Trent Boult in a cracking contest between two former IPL teammates. Their head-to-head record tilts in favour of the pacer, who has dismissed the MI captain four times in 11 innings. Rohit has scored just 66 runs against Boult, averaging a mere 16.5. Boult’s tight spells in the Powerplay have often set the tone for the rest of the Royals bowling unit this season. He also has an impressive record against the Mumbai batters in this format, having dismissed three of their top-order batters at least once. Grab your popcorn for this one!

MI top order vs Boult in T20s

Batter

Innings

Runs

Balls

Dismissals

Avg.

Rohit Sharma

11

66

47

4

16.5

Ishan Kishan

4

22

31

2

11.0

Suryakumar Yadav

2

21

12

1

21.0

Team News

“We make a couple of changes according to the wicket and the opponent,” skipper Sanju said after the team’s victory against RCB.

The Royals came in with a couple of changes in the last game - Karun Nair made way for Daryl Mitchell and Kuldeep Sen came back in the side replacing Obed McCoy. Sen marked his return with a four-wicket haul and repaid the faith of his captain. Mitchell had a slow start, but helped build some much-needed partnerships in the middle order and also chipped in with a crucial over with the ball. With the Royals, surprises are always around the corner, whether it is shuffling the batting order or an unexpected change in the Playing XI, and it is what brings out the X-factor of the team. There is no official news of any fresh injuries in the camp.

Milestone Watch

  • With 16 sixes to his name, Jos Buttler is the leading six-hitter in the Powerplay phase of IPL 2022. He\"s four short of hitting 100 sixes for the Royals in the IPL, and 33 runs away from 2500 IPL runs. This will be his 50th IPL appearance for the Royals.

  • Sanju Samson is one victory away from registering 50 wins in the IPL for the Royals

  • Shimron Hetmyer needs four boundaries to complete 100 boundaries in the IPL

  • Yuzvendra Chahal is 3 wickets away from becoming the spinner with the most wickets in an IPL season for the Royals

Which Royal are you looking forward to watching in action? Share your thoughts with us on Twitter at @rajasthanroyalsor with me @arey_yaar