The match holds special significance to both sides, more specially for LSG, as the outcome could potentially be decisive in shaping their fortunes as the IPL heads into the business end.
Photo: IANS
The serene Himachal town of Dharamsala, nestled in the lap of the mighty Dhauladhar ranges, will spring back to life once again when a high-flying Punjab Kings (PBKS) take on a rejuvenated Lucknow SuperGiants (LSG) in a league match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) on Sunday evening.
Fresh from a win against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Punjab Kings fourth on the points table with six wins, and one no result, from 10 games, while LSG, back from a week-long break — their last match was on April 27 against Mumbai Indians, are at sixth place with five wins from 11 matches.
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The match holds special significance to both sides, more specially for LSG, as the outcome could potentially be decisive in shaping their fortunes as the IPL heads into the business end.
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Shreyas Iyer has led the Punjab Kings from the front with his understanding of game situations and his evolution as a captain, without compromising on his batting. He has slammed four half centuries for the franchise in the season, and would be expected to continue his rich vein of form.
Rishabh Pant on the other hand, finds himself in a tricky spot after a dismal run with the bat, registering six single-digit scores in 10 matches, for a total of 110 runs, 63 of which came in a single outing against CSK.
Iyer, who became the second costliest buy at Rs 26.75 crore after his opposite number (Pant sold for Rs 27 crore) in the IPL mega auction last year, has been instrumental in shaping PBKS’ impressive campaign this season. Iyer, who was once vulnerable against short balls, has made technical adjustments to overcome that weakness.
With all-rounder Glenn Maxwell ruled out of the remainder of the tournament due to a fractured finger, Iyer will have to choose from the likes of Azmatullah Omarzai, the yet-to-feature Aaron Hardie, or even Xavier Bartlett, depending on conditions.
Besides Iyer, Punjab’s batting has been a well-oiled unit with Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya at the top of the order. Prabhsimran has seized the opportunity with both hands this season, with the 25-year-old becoming the first uncapped player in IPL history to breach 1100 runs when PBKS defeated CSK in their previous outing. In the middle order, Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh have been equally effective in using the long handle to perfection.
In the bowling department, leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal’s return to form is a good sign for the Kings, which boasts a potent pace attack led by Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen.
LSG, meanwhile, will be expected to hit the refresh button to get their campaign back on track. While Pant’s lack of batting form has affected their tempo, the visitors have a formidable line-up packed with a battery of power-hitters in Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, David Miller and Ayush Badoni to do the heavy-lifting.
With the ball, Mayank Yadav’s return against Mumbai Indians was heartening, though the rest of the bowling line-up didn’t fare well as per the expectations in that 54-run loss. Avesh Khan will be expected to take more responsibility and the same would be expected from the spin duo of Ravi Bishnoi and Digvesh Rathi.
Squads
Lucknow SuperGiants: Rishabh Pant (captain and wicketkeeper), Nicholas Pooran (vice-captain), Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, David Miller, Aiden Markram, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Aryan Juyal, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Shahbaz Ahmad, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Arshin Kulkarni, Ayush Badoni, Akash Deep, Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Singh Rathi, Akash Singh, Shamar Joseph, Prince Yadav.
Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harnoor Pannu, Musheer Khan, Pyla Avinash, Prabhsimran Singh (wicketkeeper), Vishnu Vinod, Josh Inglis, Suryansh Shedge, Harpreet Brar, Marco Jansen, Aaron Hardie, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marcus Stoinis, Priyansh Arya, Praveen Dubey, Arshdeep Singh, Yash Thakur, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Kuldeep Sen, Xavier Bartlett.
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