Punjab Kings are back to Mohali to play their opening match of the 2023 IPL season against KKR. Last year, KKR emerged victorious in the only head-to-head encounter between these two sides in Mumbai.
This year, IPL will be played across 12 different venues that include Lucknow and Guwahati as well. This is the first of 5 home games Punjab Kings will play in Mohali. Mayank Agarwal who led the side last year is now in the SRH camp. Shikhar Dhawan is the new PBKS captain.
KKR were dealt with a major blow earlier with Shreyas Iyer’s injury. Nitish Rana is the new captain for the two-time IPL winners. The likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Andre Russell, and Rinku Singh will be crucial in a run-chase for the Knight Riders.
Punjab will also be looking forward to some big performances from Livingstone, Raza, and Shahrukh Khan. Curran is also a handy batter in the lower order while Khan was consistent in the last few seasons in the lower middle order.
Date – April 1st, 2023
Time – 3.30 PM IST, 10:00 AM GMT, 3:30 PM Local Time
Venue – Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali
Winner – #Punjab_Kings
Teams batting second on this ground have won 32 of the 56 domestic T20 matches. In IPL even scores of 180 have been chased at this venue. Both teams have some big-impact players in their teams with KKR having some experienced finishers in their setup. Both skippers would be keen on bowling first if they win the toss.
PBKS vs KKR Pitch Report
The Mohali surface offers some help for the fast bowlers. The pace, however, helps the batters as the ball flies quickly off the bat.
Weather Report
The weather is not very promising as there is more than a 50 per cent chance of rain on the match day.
PBKS vs KKR Playing 11s
Punjab Kings
Shikhar Dhawan(C), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Brar, Shahrukh Khan, Rishi Dhawan, Sam Curran, Nathan Ellis, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar
Kolkata Knight Riders
Nitish Rana(C), N Jagadeesan, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, David Weise, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
PBKS vs KKR Dream11 Team Prediction
Keepers – Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Jitesh Sharma
Batsmen – Shikhar Dhawan (VC), Nitish Rana, Venkatesh Iyer, Shahrukh Khan
All-rounders – Sunil Narine, Sam Curran (C), Sikandar Raza
Bowlers – Arshdeep Singh, Umesh Yadav
