Shashank Singh missed out as the Punjab Kings host the Rajasthan Royals in their eighth match of the Indian Premier League 2026 on Tuesday, April 28. The Kings are the only unbeaten team in the tournament, having won six points along with a washout. They are near the 16-point mark, which more or less confirms a team's spot in the playoffs.
Shashank is not part of the Punjab side, who look to continue their unbeaten record intact in the clash at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, New Chandigarh. RR captain Riyan Parag won the toss and opted to bowl first. Both the Royals and the Kings made a couple of changes each to their teams. PBKS will be without Shashank and Xavier Bartlett as Suryansh Shedge and Lockie Ferguson come in for them.
Shreyas mentions Shashank's change is a forced
Shreyas, at the toss, mentioned that Shashank's change is a forced one as Suryansh comes in for him. The PBKS skipper did not confirm whether the all-rounder was down with injury or some sickness, but stated it being a 'forced change'. "We have one forced change. So, Suryansh (Shedge) comes in for Shashank and the other one is Lockie (Ferguson) come in for X (Xavier Bartlett)," Shreyas said at the toss.
Shreyas condoles Azmat's mother's death
Meanwhile, the PBKS skipper condoled Afghanistan all-rounder Azmatullah Omarzai's mother's death. "On behalf of the whole team, I just want to share our heartfelt condolences to Azmat and his family for his loss. I'm sure we are there to support him through thick and thin," Shreyas further said.
Coming to the RR team, Riyan confirmed that Dasun Shanaka and Yash Punja come in for Shimron Hetmyer and Ravi Bishnoi. "Two changes. Hetmyer sits out, Dasun Shanaka comes in. And there's one more change. Bishnoi goes out, and Yash Punja comes in," Riyan said at the toss.
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Prabhsimran Singh(w), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer(c), Cooper Connolly, Suryansh Shedge, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal
Rajasthan Royals (Playing XI): Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel(w), Riyan Parag(c), Donovan Ferreira, Ravindra Jadeja, Dasun Shanaka, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, Yash Raj Punja
Rajasthan Royals Impact subs: Ravi Bishnoi, Ravi Singh, Tushar Deshpande, Shubham Dubey, Shimron Hetmyer
Punjab Kings Impact Subs: Vishnu Vinod, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Xavier Bartlett, Harpreet Brar, Musheer Khan
