Punjab Kings will begin their IPL 2023 campaign in a day game against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali on 1st April. Both of these teams had failed to qualify for the playoff stages in the previous season and they will be looking to turn the tables in the upcoming edition.
PBKS will be led by Shikhar Dhawan, who will have a point to prove after his omission from India’s 50-overs team. PBKS bought Sam Curran for a massive amount of INR 18.50 crores and also added Sikandar Raza in IPL 2023 mini-auction. They have the services of Liam Livingstone but they are going to miss Jonny Bairstow due to injury.
On the other hand, Kolkata Knight Riders have been put on the back foot even before they play their opening game. Shreyas Iyer has been ruled out with a back injury and Nitish Rana has been appointed as stand-in captain. Rana has the experience of leading Delhi in the domestic circuit but leading an IPL team will be a different kettle of fish for him.
KKR have all-rounders like Sunil Narine, Andre Russell, David Wiese, Shakib Al Hasan, and Venkatesh Iyer and they are going to hold the key for them.
Match Prediction: Punjab Kings will start as favorites against Kolkata Knight Riders as they have slightly better balance in their team.
PBKS IPL 2023 SQUAD
Wicketkeepers: Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma.
Batters: Shikhar Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa (SL), M. Shahrukh Khan, Atharva Taide, Harpreet Bhatia.
All-rounders: Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone (ENG), Sam Curran (ENG), Sikandar Raza (ZIM), Shivam Singh, Mohit Rathee, Matthew Short.
Bowlers: Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Rahul Chahar, Nathan Ellis (AUS), Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada (SA), Vidwath Kaverappa.
KKR IPL 2023 SQUAD
Wicketkeepers: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (AFG), N. Jagadeesan, Litton Das (BAN).
Batters: Shreyas Iyer (currently not available due to injury), Nitish Rana ©, Rinku Singh, Mandeep Singh.
All-rounders: Venkatesh Iyer, Anukul Roy, Andre Russel (WI), Shardul Thakur, Shakib Al Hasan (BAN), David Wiese (NAM).
Bowlers: Lockie Ferguson (NZ), Harshit Rana, Sunil Narine (WI), Tim Southee (NZ), Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav, Suyash Sharma, Vaibhav Arora, Kulwant Khejroliya.
