The Punjab Kings are the perennial duo of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The Mohali-based franchise has by no means made it to the IPL, apart from the 2014 ultimate match and the semi-final loss within the inaugural season.
Shikhar Dhawan will probably be their 14th captain within the sixteenth yr of this match. The discrepancy isn’t solely within the captaincy, they maintain altering their teaching employees and nearly each public sale they attempt to revamp the workforce. They truly handle to do that however sadly it’s only on papers.
In a latest interview, Chris Gayle made a scathing assault on the franchise. He added: “They change and change a lot and they don’t have a playing XI even when you win.”
Currently slicing throughout, Punjab Kings are once more wanting just like the workforce to beat. They have all of the bases coated, and surprisingly even with Jonny Bairstow injured, they’re on the lookout for essentially the most thrilling squad.
This is a pleasant place to dwell!#saddasquad Working onerous forward of our season opener!#JazbaHaiPunjabi #SaddaPunjab #Punjab Kings #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/bCfK5K7P32
– Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) March 30, 2023
One of the explanations for that is that they’ve a great deal of all-rounders. They have Sam Curran, the most costly participant in IPL historical past. The all-rounder starred in England’s profitable T20 World Cup marketing campaign this yr, successful the Player of the Tournament award after taking 13 wickets, together with three for 12 in opposition to Pakistan within the ultimate.
This is Curran’s second stint with the franchise after making his IPL debut for the Kings in opposition to the Rajasthan Royals on the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in 2019. He took 10 wickets and scored 95 runs in 9 matches that season.
Curran’s bowling velocity of 80 mph could be seen as cannon fodder. However, this may be an understatement of the all-rounder’s avenue smarts and spirited strategy to the sport.
Throughout the World Cup, Curran has been remarkably constant in each section of the sport: two wickets in six overs within the Powerplay (overs one to 6), costing 6.42 per over; 9 wickets in 10.4 overs on the demise (overs 16-20), which value 6.56 per over; and two wickets in 5 overs within the center, costing 6.60. The solely actual dent on his stats is an over within the semi-final in opposition to India wherein Rishabh Pant and Hardik Pandya conceded 22 runs.
In his two seasons with CSK, he was requested to play a wide range of roles with each bat and ball, and did it with perfection.
The Punjab Kings can be hoping for precisely the identical impact from Curran.
In 2019, for all the plain expertise, he was nonetheless all promise, all clear blue skies.
In 2023, he’s a pressure to be reckoned with, and there’s clearly no restrict to him.
Possible enjoying XI of Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Rishi Dhawan, Sam Curran, Rahul Chahar, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Vidwath Kaverappa
Punjab Kings Team: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Shahrukh Khan, Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar , Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Mohit Rathee, Shivam Singh.
With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
