Shreyas Iyer-led Punjab Kings will be going against Riyan Parag’s Rajasthan Royals in match 40 of IPL 2026, which will take place at the Mullanpur Cricket Stadium in Chandigarh, with PBKS hoping to maintain their perfect record. Both franchises are chasing crucial points as the league stage moves into a pivotal phase. The only undefeated team in the competition, the Punjab Kings, arrived at the top of the table. The Rajasthan Royals, who had a great start but have only won one of their previous four games, now need to bounce back.
Punjab’s ascent this season has been fueled by their batting. With Shreyas Iyer striking an undefeated 71 off 36 balls and Prabhsimran Singh smashing 76 off 26 deliveries, they successfully completed a chase of 265 against Delhi Capitals in their most recent victory.
Shreyas Iyer and company have begun their quest for the elusive championship for Punjab this season by hitting top gear from game day 1. Thier batters are all in top and explosive form, and their confidence is over the roof. So yet, no team or obstacle has caused them to falter.
The Punjab juggernaut over the last week has been so strong that not even a 265-meter mountain at the capital’s Kotla grounds could halt it. Punjab, the most dominant team on the table today, broke the T20 world record for the highest successful chase ever, thanks to the formidable top-order weapons of Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh, as well as an extremely cool Iyer.
Mullanpur should anticipate some fireworks on Tuesday night as they take on the Rajasthan Royals, a team that is as exciting and promising. In stark contrast, the Royals’ captain, Riyan Parag, has had mixed results with the bat thus far. After a lackluster performance against Delhi, the Punjab bowlers will be cautious of the imposing Sooryavanshi wave.
PBKS vs RR Pitch Report
The Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh has shown to be a batting-friendly venue this season with an average first-innings score of almost 212. With a fast outfield that encourages stroke play, the surface provides real bounce and good pace. Although spinners may gain some grip later and seamers may have some early movement, the conditions are generally in favor of batters, creating another high-scoring match.
PBKS vs RR Probable XIIs
Punjab Kings: Prabhsimran Singh, Priyansh Arya, Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer, Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Xavier Bartlett, Marco Jansen, Vijaykumar Vyshakh, Yuzvendra Chahal.
Rajasthan Royals: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel, Riyan Parag, Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Tushar Deshpande, Brijesh Sharma
Squads
Punjab Kings: Prabhsimran Singh(w), Priyansh Arya, Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Nehal Wadhera, Suryansh Shedge, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Yash Thakur, Ben Dwarshuis, Praveen Dubey, Lockie Ferguson, Azmatullah Omarzai, Mitchell Owen, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash, Vishal Nishad
Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Tushar Deshpande, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Lhuan-dre Pretorius, Ravi Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Shubham Dubey, Adam Milne, Dasun Shanaka, Kuldeep Sen, Sushant Mishra, Yudhvir Singh Charak, Kwena. Maphaka, Vignesh Puthur, Yash Raj Punja, Aman Rao Perala
PBKS vs RR Predictions
The Indian Premier League 2026 match between Punjab Kings and Rajasthan Royals had a slightly skewed pre-match balance in Punjab’s favour. Despite this, RR has the advantage in this competition. In their 30 IPL encounters, Rajasthan have defeated Punjab 17 times. Meanwhile, PBKS have won 13 of them. Even though Rajasthan’s recent performance has narrowed the deficit, the head-to-head still favors them.
