In the second encounter of this year’s IPL, two neighbours battle out in the sizzling heat of Punjab. It is a special occasion for both the teams as Punjab Kings will be playing in their brand-new stadium and Rishabh Pant’s comeback on the field for the very first time since last year makes it special for Delhi Capitals too.
Delhi Capitals after having a terrible season last year, will try to forget that and start the new season on a good note.
Punjab King will be hoping to complete the “10 Years Challenge” by qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
Team Preview
Delhi Capitals
2 out of the 8 overseas signings of Delhi Capitals have already been ruled out of the IPL. Anrich Nortje hasn’t played a game for a long time, the same goes for Rishabh Pant.
Considering Rishabh Pant’s uncertainty over availability to keep the wickets, Delhi bought a lot of Wicket-keeping options.
Strengths: Two world-class spinners, Decent death bowling, Individual match winners like David Warner, and Mitchell Marsh. Multiple all-rounders, and good backups.
Weakness: Injury issues of many players, weak middle order, weak and inexperienced Indian core.
Probable Playing 12: David Warner, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (c), Kumar Kushagra(wk), Axar Patel, Lalit Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar.
Impact Players: Prithvi Shaw (batting first), Khaleel Ahmed (bowling first).
Punjab Kings
Punjab Kings haven’t changed a lot from the previous season, the captain is same, the coach is same and the core of the team is also the same as the previous year.
Last year they missed the services of explosive Jonny Bairstow, but this time around he is also available.
4 out of the 8 overseas players of the Punjab squad are English, which may leave IPL midway as England are playing a T20I series against Pakistan before the mega event in West Indies and USA in June, but they have good backups.
Strengths: Pace attack has all varieties, from domestic stars like Kaverappa to International stars like Rabada. Death bowling experts like Ellis, Curran, and Harshal Patel to New ball experts like Arshdeep and Woakes. Hit the deck bowler like Kaverappa could also be crucial at some stage of the tournament.
Weakness: Inexperienced Indian batting order, out-of-form spin department.
Probable Playing 12: Shikhar Dhawan, Prabhsimran Singh, Athrav Taide, Liam Livingstone, Sikandar Raza, Jitesh Sharma, Sam Curran, Harshal Patel, Rahul Chahar, Nathan Ellis, Arshdeep Singh.
Impact Players: Prabhsimran Singh (batting first) and Vidwath Kaverappa (bowling first).
Pitch Report
A brand-new stadium is waiting to host his first IPL match and PBKS’s first home match.
The pitch is likely to be batting-friendly like most of the pitches are in T20s these days.
Average 1st innings score in this stadium in the last 10 T20s: 164.
Players To Watch Out For
Liam Livingstone
Liam Livingstone is a different breed when it comes to playing in IPL, especially playing for PBKS in IPL. In Two seasons played for he has averaged 35 with a heavy strike rate of around 175.
The last time, when he faced Delhi Capitals, he almost won the match for the team single-handedly, this time around he would be hoping to avenge that defeat.
Jake Fraser-Mcgurk
Jake Fraser-Mcgurk has been in the news since the BBL and till now has lived up to the hype, striking ball at a great strike rate across leagues.
Playing in the ILT20 for Dubai Capitals, he outshined stars like David Warner and Rovam Powell.
He would be hoping to continue this form into the world’s biggest league and prove his worth.
PBKS vs DC Dream11 Team for Match 2 of 2023 WC
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