Punjab Kings will have a new captain to lead their side, and they will hope that their fortunes change this season. Usually, Punjab Kings is known for starting their season with a victory but often it ends bad for them.
There are number of changes in this new team of Punjab, last year they bowling felt troubling so a lot of energy and skill has been invested in the bowling department.
Captain Shikhar Dhawan has never scored a half century while captaining an IPL side, this time around, things can turn his way because he generally enjoys batting at I.S. Bindra Stadium, Mohali. Punjab Kings have won 5 off their last 7 encounters at this stadium.
Last year, Punjab Kings tried to be ultra aggressive with the bat, but often in attempt to score too many runs in quick times, they lost many wickets which halted their scoring rate in middle and slog overs.
Punjab Kings wil not have the service of Jonny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone, the latter will be available after the first match. But they paid a hefty price for English all-rounder Sam Curran.
With an economy of little over 9 and batting average of 21, Curran will need to prove his worth by doing a big job because KG Rabada is not playing the first game of the IPL.
Match: Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders
Time: 3:30 PM IST
Venue: I.S. Bindra Stadium, Mohali
For Kolkata Knight Riders, things are going to be tough because Nitish Rana, who has never captained an IPL side, will lead KKR is absence of Shreyas Iyer. KKR was the team that played 2021 final but in the next season, they had their worst tournament.
In the opening slot, the power of Rahmanullah Gurbaz will be aided by soft work of N. Jagadeeshan. With some local chaptered middle order, will follow the fire power of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. Pretty inexperienced side to start with, KKR will expect their bowlers to do the big job, led by duo of Umesh Yadav and Tim Southee.
In five of his team’s first seven games, Rahul Chahar hopes to record his team’s top bowling numbers, just like he did in 2022. Standing-in Kolkata skipper Nitish Rana has been removed twice by Chahar from 19 deliveries bowled for just 25 runs.
Rana will be looking to show himself as a leader after leading the Knight Riders in scoring four times last season (either outright or tied). In IPL cricket, Rana has never batted at Mohali.
- Punjab entered the contest as the favourite but lost five of the six head-to-head matches.
- At Mohali, the first innings score is typically 165, while 2019 saw a little increase (171).
- In 2022, Punjab recorded the highest powerplay score 10 times, compared to Kolkata’s five.
- In his six IPL games at Mohali, Sunil Narine has 12 wickets at an average of 12.00. (6.00rpo).
- In 14 T20 cricket overs, Umesh Yadav only managed to get rid of Shikhar Dhawan once, giving up 95 runs at a 6.79 rpo.
- Last season, Andre Russell led Kolkata in top scoring on five more occasions than any other player.