IPL 2023: Punjab Kings face tough challenge in front of KKR struggling with injury and lack of foreign players
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Troubled by injury and unavailability of some overseas players Punjab Kings And Kolkata Knight Riders When the teams of the Indian Premier League take the field here on Saturday for their opening match, they will aim to start the season with a win. Both these teams have always had strong players in IPL but their performance on the field has not been that impressive. Punjab Kings are still waiting for their first title while KKR’s team has been champion twice under the leadership of Gautam Gambhir.
Punjab has not won the title even once
In the last season, Punjab was sixth and KKR seventh in the 10-team competition. In this season both the teams will be led by new captains. Experienced Shikhar Dhawan will take charge of Punjab, while KKR has expressed confidence in domestic star Nitish Rana in place of injured Shreyas Iyer. On paper, the Punjab team is looking a bit stronger than KKR, which will also get the advantage of the home ground. However, the team will miss Johnny Bairstow of England. Bairstow is out of the entire season due to injury.
Mathew Short can open with Dhawan
The franchise has included Matthew Short, who was the best player of the season in the Big Bash League, in place of Bairstow. It is expected that this Australian batsman will open the innings with Dhawan. Liam Livingstone (injured) and Kagiso Rabada (with the national team) will not be able to play in the initial few matches, which may affect the rhythm of Punjab Kings. The team, however, has spent Rs 18.50 crore on all-rounder Sam Curran, who is known for his impressive performances with the ball and the bat.
Sikandar Raza an option near Punjab
The team will also have the option of Sikandar Raza of Zimbabwe, who is in excellent rhythm with the bat and also bowls off-spin. Apart from Arshdeep Singh, the team also does not have any impressive Indian fast bowler. In such a situation, coach Trevor Bayliss would expect better performance from Rishi Dhawan and leg-spinner Rahul Chahar. The Kolkata Knight Riders team will also rely heavily on their coach Chandrakant Pandit, who is a very skilful strategist and in the absence of regular captain Iyer, it will be up to Rana to execute his plans.
Shakib and Liton Das also absent
With Bangladesh’s Shakib Al Hasan and Liton Das missing from the opening match due to national commitments, KKR’s performance will largely depend on the West Indies duo of Andre Russell and Sunil Narine. The team has other quality all-rounders in the form of David Voisey and Venkatesh Iyer. If top-order batting is a concern for the team, then KKR has a strong bowling unit. Umesh Yadav will lead the fast bowling attack while Shardul Thakur and Tim Southee will support him. Shakib, Narayan and Varun Chakraborty will handle the responsibility in the spin department.
Teams are as follows
Punjab Kings : Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Raj Bawa, Rahul Chahar, Sam Curran, Rishi Dhawan, Nathan Ellis, Harpreet Brar, Harpreet Singh, V. Kaverappa, Mohit Rathi, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, M Shah Rukh Khan, Jitesh Sharma, Shivam Singh, Mathew Short, Sikandar Raza, Atharva Tayde.
Kolkata Knight Riders: Nitish Rana (Captain), Vaibhav Arora, Lockie Ferguson, Harshit Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, N Jagadeesan, Kulwant Khejroliya, Liton Das, Mandeep Singh, Sunil Narine, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Anukul Roy, Andre Russell, Shakib Al Hasan, Rinku Singh, Tim Southee, Suyash Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Varun Chakraborty, David Wise, Umesh Yadav.
The match will start at 03:30 pm.
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