The PBKS think tank did well to promptly bring back their overseas contingent after the tournament’s resumption, and the squad now resembles a band of men determined to make up for the years of disappointment the franchise has faced in the widely watched event.
PBKS skipper Shreyas Iyer, who recently made history by becoming the first captain to lead three franchises to IPL playoffs, has been the key to their success. For the side to go all the way, the stylish batter will need to continue in similar vein in the remaining matches.
Prior to his triumphant campaign with Kolkata Knight Riders last year, Iyer had led Delhi Capitals to the playoffs in 2019 and 2020, including their only IPL final appearance in 2020.
He is also the second-highest run scorer this season with 435 runs in 12 matches and is gunning for more.
Thanks to the performances of players such as Prabhsimran Singh (458 runs), Priyansh Arya (356 runs), Arshdeep Singh (11 wickets) and Yuzvendra Chahal (13 wickets), PBKS have emerged as the most consistent side this season, accumulating 17 points from 12 matches to secure a playoff berth with two games to spare.
As far as Delhi Capitals are concerned, they have had their chances this season, but the lack of big runs in the powerplay and the absence of lead pacer Mitchell Starc towards the end have adversely impacted their prospects.
They will look to end their disappointing campaign on a high note, but up against an in-form opponent like PBKS, it is easier said than done.
Teams:
Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (c), Arshdeep Singh, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash, Azmatullah Omarzai, Xavier Bartlett, Yuzvendra Chahal, Praveen Dubey, Aaron Hardie, Harnoor Singh, Harpreet Brar, Josh Inglis, Kyle Jamieson, Marco Jansen, Musheer Khan, Mitchell Owen, Prabhsimran Singh, Kuldeep Sen, Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Suryansh Shedge, Vishnu Vinod, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Nehal Wadhera, Yash Thakur.
Delhi Capitals: Axar Patel (c), Mustafizur Rahman, Abishek Porel, Karun Nair, KL Rahul (wk), Tristan Stubbs, Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Sameer Rizvi, Darshan Nalkande, Tripurana Vijay, Dushmantha Chameera, Faf du Plessis, T Natarajan, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Manvanth Kumar L, Madhav Tiwari.
Match starts at 7:30 PM.
