India Captains vs Royal Riders Punjab
🏏 India Captains
💜 Royal Riders Punjab
🏏 India Captains
Captain: Irfan Pathan
Hashim Amla, Lahiru Thirimanne, Hamilton Masakadza, Sheldon Jackson (wk), Priyank Panchal, Parvinder Awana, Asela Gunaratne, Iqbal Abdullah, Shreevats Goswami, Diwesh Pathania, Baltej Singh Dhanda, Abhishek Sakuja, Kuldeep Hooda, Robin Bist, Rajesh Bishnoi, Upul Tharanga
💜 Royal Riders Punjab
Captain: Cheteshwar Pujara
Thisara Perera, Asghar Afghan, M.S Shahzad (wk), Rishi Dhawan, Angelo Perera, Chaturanga De Silva, Seekkuge Prasanna, Samiullah Shinwari, Anureet Singh, Aftab Alam, Mark Deyal, Sarul Kanwar, Trevon Griffith, Pawan Suyal, Ayaan Khan, William Perkins, Farman Ahmed
India Captains are at the bottom of the LLC 2026 table with just 1 win from 4 matches — this is effectively a must-win game to keep playoff hopes alive. Despite their poor run, they have genuine quality: Hashim Amla at the top, Irfan Pathan’s experience, and Asela Gunaratne — who took 4/20 in their only win of the tournament. Their bowling can be devastating on their day. Changes to the XI are expected.
Royal Riders Punjab have been average but not terrible. Their win over Konark Suryas Odisha by 43 runs showed what they’re capable of when Chaturanga De Silva fires. The combination of Thisara Perera’s power hitting and Asghar Afghan’s all-round quality makes them dangerous. Captain Pujara — the Test wall attempting T20 cricket — is an intriguing wild card.
Pitch: The Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Dehradun is a relatively new but highly regarded T20 venue. The pitch offers decent batting conditions with good bounce. Spinners become effective in the middle overs. Average first innings score here is around 152 runs — a 160-170 total is competitive. Highest recorded total at the venue is 211.
Weather: Afternoon match at 2:30 PM IST. Dehradun in late March — pleasant, moderate temperatures (~28°C). Very little chance of rain. No dew factor for the afternoon game (unlike the evening match). Teams winning the toss will likely bat first given the day conditions.
⭐ Suggested XI
- Sheldon JacksonWKCAP
- Hashim AmlaCCAP
- Lahiru ThirimanneCAP
- Cheteshwar PujaraRRP
- Asghar AfghanVCRRP
- Asela GunaratneCAP
- Thisara PereraRRP
- Chaturanga De SilvaRRP
- Irfan PathanCAP
- Parvinder AwanaCAP
- Seekkuge PrasannaRRP
📋 Breakdown
- Wicket-keeper1 — S. Jackson
- Batters2
- All-rounders5
- Bowlers3
- India Captains5 players
- Royal Riders Punjab6 players
Broadcast: Sony Sports 1 (English) & Sony Sports 3 (Hindi) | FanCode & SonyLIV (streaming)
Venue stat: Average first innings score at Dehradun is 152 runs. Teams batting first have won 4 of 6 matches here.
India Captains have a slight edge — desperation can be a powerful motivator. At the bottom of the table with 3 consecutive losses, they will make changes and come out fighting. Irfan Pathan will be under pressure to deliver a performance worth remembering.
Royal Riders Punjab are the steadier side with average but consistent form. The Pujara vs T20 cricket experiment continues — if he can pace an innings at the Dehradun ground, Punjab can post a competitive total. This is one of the harder matches to call in LLC 2026.