RR choose to bowl first against PBKS in IPL 2026 finale

Rajasthan Royals captain Riyan Parag decided to bowl first against Punjab Kings in the last game of IPL 2026.

Captain's bowling call Rajasthan Royals skipper Riyan Parag made the call to bowl first against Punjab Kings in the final match of the IPL 2026 season held in New Chandigarh. Parag explained that cloud cover and light rain showers influenced his decision to start with the ball. The home side introduced two new faces in the playing XI, replacing Shimron Hetmyer and Ravi Bishnoi with Dasun Shanaka and Yash Raj Punja respectively. ## Punjab Kings' bowling preference Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer also revealed a preference to bowl first after noticing the pitch had been protected for a couple of days. The Mohali-based franchise made two changes to their starting lineup, bringing in Suryansh Shedge for Shashank Singh. Fast bowler Lockie Ferguson made his season debut, replacing Xavier Bartlett in the attack. Shreyas conveyed his sincere condolences to Azmatalluah Omarzai for the loss of his mother. ## Form guide ahead of clash Punjab Kings arrived in top form, having remained unbeaten in all their previous league matches this season. In their last outing, they successfully chased down a massive 265-run target with seven balls to spare. Across seven matches played so far, they secured six victories while one game was abandoned due to rain. Rajasthan Royals began the tournament with four consecutive wins before suffering back-to-back defeats, but they regained momentum with a recent win over Lucknow Super Giants. The Royals suffered a setback against Sunrisers Hyderabad just three days prior to this fixture. ## Rajasthan Royals XI and bench Rajasthan Royals named their playing XI as Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (c), Donovan Ferreira, Dasun Shanaka, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Brijesh Sharma, Nandre Burger, and Yash Raj Punja. Their bench strength includes Ravi Bishnoi, Ravi Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Shubham Dubey, and Shimron Hetmyer. ## Punjab Kings XI and bench Punjab Kings fielded Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Suryansh Shedge, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, and Yuzvendra Chahal in their starting lineup. Their bench options comprise Vishnu Vinod, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Xavier Bartlett, Harpreet Brar, and Musheer Khan.