Rajasthan are third on the points table, and it is mostly because of the flamboyant Jos Buttler.
Punjab Kings are placed eighth while Chennai Super Kings occupy the penultimate slot in the 10-team IPL points table.
A round-up of Ranji matches played on Thursday.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar blew away Bengal top-order in an incredible five-wicket haul
Punjab Kings kept their prospects of making the play-offs alive after a a five-wicket victory over Kolkata Knight Riders in Dubai on Friday. They are placed fifth with 12 points, after five wins and seven defeats. Victory in Sunday's outing will certainly enhance their chances.
K L Rahul has been named vice-captain of the squad, which also has Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harshal Patel, Venkatesh Iyer, Avesh Khan, Axar Patel.
Liam Livingstone and Evin Lewis's explosive batting will meet its match in Chris Gayle's power and KL Rahul's finesse when Rajasthan Royals lock horns with Punjab Kings to improve upon their mid-table position in the Indian Premier League in Dubai on Tuesday.
Green pocketed just one wicket, but his tight overs put the necessary pressure on the DC scoreboard as the match slipped away from the visitors.
Heavyweight Cheteshwar Pujara was down with fever as Bengal gained the upperhand against a scratchy Saurashtra on an attritional opening day's play in the Ranji Trophy final, in Rajkot, on Monday. Avi Barot and Vishvaraj Jadeja struck gritty half-centuries before Bengal pacer Akash Deep struck late in the final session to leave Saurashtra at 206 for five at stumps on Day 1.
Rasikh Salam Dar emerged as Delhi Capitals' hero with the ball, with excellent figures of 3/34.
Krishnappa Gowtham's late assault proved to the difference as India B registered a comprehensive 51-run win over India C to win the Deodhar Trophy title.
A red-hot Bengal will have a chance to win their first Ranji Trophy title in 33 years when they face Saurashtra, bolstered by the return of pacer and domestic game heavyweight Jaydev Unadkat, in the summit clash in Kolkata from Thursday.
The Indian squad started preparations for the day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide from Friday evening itself with pink balls.
Mayank Agarwal played a captain's knock of 109, as his side took a 64-run lead on Day 2
Punjab are seventh on the points table with 12 points. The Capitals also have a dozen points and are fifth
Royal Challengers Bangalore, who have found much-needed momentum towards the business end of IPL 2022, will back themselves to ride past an inconsistent Punjab Kings and get closer to a play-off spot.
Fiesty Bengal pacer Mukesh Kumar knows well what it takes to be selected for the Indian Test team.
Gujarat are clearly the team to beat in the competition having won eight out of nine games.
Punjab Kings would be keen to put brakes on Lucknow Super Giants skipper KL Rahul's rollicking batting form during their IPL 2022 match on Friday.
Railways caused the biggest upset in this Ranji Trophy season so far, after they defeated domestic giants Mumbai by 10 wickets within three days in their Elite Group B match, in Mumbai, on Friday. Railways pacer Himanshu Sangwan (5-60) took five wickets, as Mumbai were bundled out for 198 in their second essay at the Wankhede Stadium, after India Test vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane failed miserably in the second innings as well.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable Player Index of IPL 2024 after Game 62.
SRH and PBKS will go all out to snap the two crucial points to nose ahead in the race for play-offs.
Chennai Super Kings have so far failed to display the stuff that won them the IPL last season, and new skipper Ravindra Jadeja must seek improvement on multiple fronts against Punjab Kings when they meet at the Brabourne stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
Kolkata Knight Riders are expected to continue with their risk-taking approach despite mixed returns when they on Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League, at the Wankhede stadium, in Mumbai on Friday.
Both RCB and PBKS will have new captains at the helm in Faf du Plessis and Mayank Agarwal respectively
This was Shorey's highest first-class score in 45 matches, with his previous best being 145. The double-century will do more good to his already healthy batting average of 48.49.
SunRisers Hyderabad has the biggest purse while Kolkata Knight Riders has the slimmest purse.
Hardik Pandya has quit Gujarat Titans to rejoin his former team Mumbai Indians, following a trade between the two franchises.
Srinivas Bhogle and Purnendu Maji present Rediff.com's Most Valuable performances of IPL 2024
The Punjab bowlers led by Kagiso Rabada have fared well. But the likes of Vaibhav Arora, Arshdeep Singh along with Rahul Chahar, who has nine wickets, would need to be on the money.
KXIP's chances of a top four finish took a serious hit after Rajasthan Royals handed them a seven-wicket loss,
In the absence of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul was named vice-captain of the ODI and T20I teams. He also makes a comeback to the Test team, as Shikhar Dhawan was named only in the limited-overs' side.
KXIP got its campaign back on track with three consecutive wins -- over mighty Delhi Capitals, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore and the KL Rahul-led side would be hoping to carry the winning momentum forward to break into top four.
A round-up of Day 1 of the Ranji Trophy matches played on Thursday.
Kings XI run into a RCB squad which has grown in confidence by leaps and bounds since their last meeting.
KL Rahul and Co would like forget the unsavoury incident and focus on the task ahead.
It will not be an easy task for a struggling Punjab side to stand up to the challenge thrown by a RCB team
Captain KL Rahul has been one of the few consistent performers in the formidable-looking Punjab batting unit and he once again led by example against MI
As coach Ricky Ponting pointed out, he would expect a better "on his feet" thinking from the young captain.
The two sides experienced contrasting fortunes in their respective tournament opener.
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