Preveiw by Aayush Puthran

There was a pleasant sight on offer for the few fans of Rajasthan Royals who had turned up to watch the practice session at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium on Wednesday evening. The sight of Sanju Samson engaging in a game of foot volleyball with his teammates.

It probably didn't matter that he wasn't the most impressive performer on show in the pre-nets warm-up, or that his team was thwarted 7-1 eventually. The fact that he was also knocking the ball around later in the nets, would have been more than the compensation for that.

For as much as Royals would've missed their captain in the last few games, his absence due to side strain was adequately filled up by Vaibhav Suryavanshi, the 14-year-old replacement. So much so that, despite Samson's return, the star attraction for the sparse crowd at the venue was overshadowed by Suryavanshi, who was in high demand for autographs and selfies while he was going through his catching drills near the boundary ropes.

There is an understandable reason for that. A new star of Indian cricket took the attention under the Jaipur floodlights a few days ago, and en route to his multiple-record-breaking century, in a way offered hope to revive Royals' campaign.

Despite the victory, not much has realistically changed for them in terms of qualifying for the playoffs. They are still riding on only mathematical possibilities as they set to face Mumbai Indians, who are on a five-match victory march. Yet, the tone of approach has changed. They may have won only one out of their last six games, but are fully aware that they could have won four of those and be on par with their Thursday's opposition.

Whether Samson turns up for the clash or not, Royals would continue to hold on to hope if nothing else, courtesy the exploits of their latest find. And in doing that, maybe offer the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Trent Boult, the world-beating, world-conquering bowlers, some homework on how to dismiss a 14-year-old.

When: Rajasthan Royals vs Mumbai Indians, Thursday, May 1, 2025, 7:30 PM IST

Where: Sawai Mansingh Stadium, Jaipur

What to expect: As Trent Boult mentioned, there is unlikely to be any swing, spin or bounce. 180 has been a par-score usually at the venue, but in the previous game here, both teams proved that even a 200-plus total may not be safe enough

Head to head: Historically, the contests between the two sides have been quite even, with Mumbai Indians holding a 15-14 edge. However, in Jaipur, Rajasthan Royals have had an upperhand - winning 6 out of the 8 contests

Team Watch:

Rajasthan Royals:

Injuries/Unavailability: Samson, who was suffering from side strain, is back in training, knocking the ball and participating in warm-up routines. However, he is unlikely to feature in the game on Thursday.

Tactics & Matchups: Sandeep Sharma has enjoyed tremendous success against Mumbai Indians in the past, including picking five wickets at the venue last season against them. He has been especially successful against Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav, dismissing them 5 and 4 times respectively. Expect him to play a key role in the powerplay.

Probable XII: Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag (c), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande, Sandeep Sharma, Akash Madhwal/Shubham Dubey

Mumbai Indians:

Injuries/Unavailability: No unavailabilities have been reported

Tactics & Matchups: Rajasthan Royals have struggled in the death overs, and the challenge is only going to mount, with Jasprit Bumrah having the measure of their primary death-over hitter, Shimron Hetmyer. Bumrah has dismissed Hetmyer thrice in 15 balls, conceding only 20 runs against the southpaw.

Probable XII: Ryan Rickleton (wk), Rohit Sharma (c), Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Naman Dhir, Corbin Bosch, Deepak Chahar, Karn Sharma, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah

Did you know?

- In every season that Mumbai Indians have won five or more games on a trot, except 2008, they have ended up in the final

- Jofra Archer and Sandeep Sharma have combined to pick up 19 wickets this season, while the rest of the Royals pacers have combined to bag only six

- MI last beat RR in Jaipur in IPL 2012, and have lost four matches on the bounce since.

What they said:

"Whether he (Vaibhav Suryavanshi) scores runs or not, he's been given the message that he should trust his game. He has trusted that and come all the way till here. We don't want him to watch the stage or the bowlers and do anything different now." - Riyan Parag, Rajasthan Royals' stand-in captain

"I'll be careful not to say I'm worried about a 14-year-old, but it's going to be an exciting challenge to come up against a guy who's obviously fearless and running in hot form at the moment." - Trent Boult, Mumbai Indians pacer

Squads:

Rajasthan Royals Squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Nitish Rana, Riyan Parag(c), Dhruv Jurel(w), Shimron Hetmyer, Wanindu Hasaranga, Jofra Archer, Maheesh Theekshana, Sandeep Sharma, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Shubham Dubey, Kumar Kartikeya, Tushar Deshpande, Akash Madhwal, Kunal Singh Rathore, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Kwena Maphaka, Ashok Sharma

Mumbai Indians Squad: Ryan Rickelton(w), Rohit Sharma, Will Jacks, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya(c), Naman Dhir, Corbin Bosch, Trent Boult, Deepak Chahar, Karn Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Raj Bawa, Satyanarayana Raju, Robin Minz, Reece Topley, Vignesh Puthur, Mitchell Santner, Ashwani Kumar, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Arjun Tendulkar, Bevon Jacobs, Krishnan Shrijith