The new stadium in Mullanpur will witness another game of their home team where the team and their fans will hope for a change in fortunes. Having lost all the last three matches Punjab Kings are in desperate need of two points. The form of their star overseas batters Johny Bairstow and Liam Livingstone have let them down. The unavailability of their regular skipper Shikhar Dhawan due to injury has added to their batting woes even more. Even after continuous failure of their top order the young Indian lower order has kept Punjab Kings batting going. Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma have taken most of the workload and have given some excellent performances down the order.
Their bowling department lacks good spells from spinners in the middle overs. With Rabada having taken all the loads of the bowling department, Arshdeep Singh and Harshal Patel have chipped in on a few occasions but have not been consistent. The stand-in-skipper Sam Curran too has not looked promising with both the bat and the ball.
While on the other hand Gujarat Titans are coming back from a horrible last game where they got bundled out for just 89 runs against Delhi Capitals. They also have similar woes in their batting like Punjab Kings. The skipper Shubham Gill has been the only half centurion for them in the top five. Sai Sudarshan has chipped in on a few occasions but has not been consistent. They will really hope David Miller to gain his form as early as possible who is coming back from an injury.
Their star bowler Rashid Khan hasn't looked in a very good rhythm and has only 7 scalps in 7 games with an economy rate of almost 8 which is way below his standard. Mohit Sharma at death has been good so far but he lacks a partner from the other end.
Battle to watch out for :
Kagiso Rabada vs Shubham Gill
Shubham Gill and Kagiso Rabada respectively have been the highest run scorer and the highest wicket taker in PBKS vs GT head to head encounters. It will be a great visual to see these two class players in action with the new ball.
Head to Head :
PBKS won : 2
GT won : 2
Probable playing 11 :
Punjab Kings :
Prabhsimran Singh, Sam Curran (c) , Rilee Rossouw, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh
Gujarat Titans :
Shubman Gill (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Sai Sudharsan, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma, Spencer Johnson, Sandeep Warrier
Date : April 21, 2024
Time : 7.30 PM IST
Venue : Maharaja Yadavindra Singh Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur