Rajasthan Royals vs Delhi Capitals: IPL 2026 Match Preview

Jaipur. The 43rd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 is being played between Rajasthan Royals and Delhi Capitals. This competition will start from 7:45 PM at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur. This is the first clash between these two teams this season.

Rajasthan's Vaibhav Suryavanshi is close to the record of hitting 100 sixes fastest in T-20 cricket. He has already hit 99 sixes in 511 balls in 27 innings. Currently, this record is in the name of West Indies' Kieron Pollard, who completed 100 sixes in 843 balls.

Along with this, Suryavanshi has also set the record for scoring 400 runs in the fastest 167 balls in IPL 2026. In the points table, Rajasthan is in fourth place with 6 wins and 3 losses in 9 matches, while Delhi is in seventh place with 3 wins and 5 losses in 8 matches.

Head-to-Head: Rajasthan has the upper hand

So far, 30 matches have been played between these two teams in the IPL. Out of which Rajasthan has won 15 matches, while Delhi has won 14 matches. One match was tied, which Delhi later won in a super over.

Vaibhav in excellent form

This season, Vaibhav Suryavanshi has scored 400 runs in 9 matches for Rajasthan, including 1 century and 2 half-centuries. His strike rate of 238.09 is giving the team an aggressive start.

In bowling, Jofra Archer is playing an important role. He has taken 14 wickets in 9 matches, with 3/20 being his best performance.

Delhi's batting depends on KL Rahul

Delhi's batting is largely dependent on KL Rahul. Rahul has scored 358 runs in 8 matches, including 1 century and 2 half-centuries. His strike rate is 185.49.

In bowling, all-rounder Axar Patel is proving to be important. He has taken 7 wickets in 8 matches and has conceded runs at an economy of 8.33.

Ngidi will not play against Rajasthan

Lungi Ngidi will miss the match against Rajasthan Royals. He had to be admitted to the hospital after suffering a serious head injury in the match against Punjab Kings on April 25. Due to concussion, doctors have advised him to rest for 7 days.

For this reason, he missed the match against Bengaluru and will also be out of the field against Rajasthan. His comeback is expected in the match against Chennai Super Kings on May 5.

Mitchell Starc's comeback

Finally, the wait is over. Fast bowler Mitchell Starc will be available to play for Delhi Capitals when they face Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur on Friday night.

Starc, recovering from a shoulder injury, joined the team only a few days ago. Although he has not played any competitive match for more than three months, he has been bowling in Delhi's nets and is eager to take the field.

Players to watch

• Jofra Archer

Jofra Archer is in excellent form this season, especially in the powerplay. He has taken a wicket in the first over of the match four times, three of which were on the very first ball. He has been wicketless only once in the powerplay. Looking at Delhi's previous match performance, their batsmen will be cautious of Archer's challenge.

• Sameer Rizvi

On the other hand, Sameer Rizvi had an excellent start to the season with scores of 70 (not out) and 90. But his performance has declined since then.

In the last five innings, he has been out in single digits four times, including two ducks (out for zero). This has created a big void in Delhi's middle order. The team management wants him to return to his old form.

Jaipur's pitch and weather

The pitch at Sawai Mansingh Stadium offers some movement to fast bowlers with the new ball initially. However, once the batsmen get set, it is very easy to play shots due to the bounce and fast outfield.

The average score of the first innings in IPL at this ground is around 166 runs, while in the second innings it is between 150 to 160.

The weather in Jaipur will be hot today. The temperature will be between 36 to 40 degrees Celsius at the start of the match. Humidity will be around 14 percent and there is no chance of rain.

Dew may play a big role at night. Bowlers will find it difficult to grip the ball in the second innings, which the batsmen can take advantage of.

Team News and Probable Playing-12

Rajasthan may continue with the same team that defeated Punjab Kings, meaning Ravis Bishnoi may still be on the bench.

• Rajasthan Royals (Probable): Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (Wicketkeeper), Riyan Parag (Captain), Donovan Ferreira, Shubham Dubey, Dasun Shanaka, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, Yash Raj Pania.

With Starc's inclusion, Kyle Jamieson may have to sit out. Lungi Ngidi has started training but is not available for selection.

• Delhi Capitals (Probable): KL Rahul (Wicketkeeper), Sahil Park, Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, David Miller, Vibraj Nigam, Axar Patel (Captain), Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Dushmantha Chameera, T Natarajan.

Statistics

• This season, Suryavanshi and Jaiswal have scored 451 runs in partnership at an average of 50.11 and a run rate of 12.13.

• Suryavanshi has already hit 99 sixes in just 27 innings in T-20 cricket.

• In IPL 2026, Delhi has scored runs at a rate of 8.20 per over in the powerplay. Only Lucknow Super Giants (7.93) are slower than Delhi in this phase.

• Dhruv Jurel scored 176 runs at a strike rate of 181.44 in his first four innings of the season. However, in the last five innings, he has scored only 72 runs at a strike rate of 110.77.

• Delhi has taken only 36 wickets this season, which is the lowest in the competition along with Punjab Kings.