IPL-2024: Punjab Kings to Lock Horns With Gujarat Titans in Chandigarh: PBKS opt to bat
In the second match, the Punjab Kings will lock horns with the Gujarat Titans at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh. The match will be played at 7.30 this evening. Punjab Kings have won the toss and have opted to bat.
After a hat-trick of defeats at their new home, Punjab Kings would be looking to wrap up the Mullanpur leg with a win against an inconsistent Gujarat Titans on Sunday (April 21) night.
All of Punjab’s three defeats – since Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma combined to stun Titans in Ahmedabad in the reverse fixture – have been last-over losses, giving an illusion of form and/or control. Unfortunately, Punjab have lacked both, and the close contests have largely been down to the nerveless hitting of the aforementioned pair. Of the 1172 runs scored by PBKS batters this season, 343 have been scored by Shashank and Ashutosh (29.26%) despite having largely batted at No. 6, 7 or 8.
The likes of Prabhsimran Singh and Jitesh Sharma have flopped consistently. Sam Curran has only half-century knock and four single-digit scores in seven games while Liam Livingstone also hasn’t spent much time in the middle. In the injury-forced absence of their regular skipper Shikhar Dhawan, Punjab went on to drop out-of-form Jonny Bairstow as well giving out a rather unsettled vibe despite having not chopped much this season.
Titans have similar top-order woes with their new captain, Shubman Gill, being the only half-centurion in the top-five and some semblance of consistency from Sai Sudharsan. Titans and Punjab, in fact occupy the last -two spots respectively among all teams in terms of contributions from their top-five. However unlike ninth-placed GT, PBKS lead the charts when it comes to the batting returns of their no. 6 to 8 – an average of 39.75 with two half-centuries, one each for Shashank and Ashutosh.
After folding for a miserly 89 in their last outing, despite the return of injured David Miller, GT consequently they slipped to eighth in the points table. Despite having two more points than their Sunday opponents, Titans have blown hot and cold with no back-to-back wins to boast of. Both teams will be desperate for a turnaround as they kick off the second half of their frail campaigns in this battle of equals.
Squads:
Gujarat Titans Squad: Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill(c), Sai Sudharsan, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Shahrukh Khan, Rashid Khan, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Spencer Johnson, Sandeep Warrier, Sharath BR, Darshan Nalkande, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Manav Suthar, Matthew Wade, Vijay Shankar, Umesh Yadav, Kane Williamson, Jayant Yadav, Joshua Little, Kartik Tyagi, Azmatullah Omarzai, Sushant Mishra
Punjab Kings Squad: Sam Curran(c), Prabhsimran Singh, Rilee Rossouw, Liam Livingstone, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma(w), Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar, Shivam Singh, Rishi Dhawan, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Atharva Taide, Jonny Bairstow, Nathan Ellis, Tanay Thyagarajan, Shikhar Dhawan, Chris Woakes, Sikandar Raza, Prince Choudhary, Vishwanath Singh
