Having lost six games out of eight, Punjab Kings will look to end the season on a high in their remaining six matches, beginning with Friday’s outing against second-placed Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Languishing at the bottom of the IPL points tally, the Faf du Plessis-led side can’t afford any more hiccups, and will now have the daunting task of winning all their remaining seven games to keep their playoff prospects alive.
Sunday’s match will be the first of the five consecutive home games for the Shreyas Iyer-led side, giving them a great advantage of consolidating to their stay at the first two spots in the points table and clinch the play-off spot for the first time since 2021.
The KKR opening combo of Phil Salt and Sunil Narine, all-rounder Andre Rusell and Venkatesh Iyer have been in good nick in the first two games and would look to pose a challenge for the Delhi pacers
According to some media reports, after consultation with the National Cricket Academy (NCA), Bangalore, the 29-year-old visited the spine specialist in Mumbai, who advised the right-hand batsmen not to stretch much during forward defense as this can increase the injury.
Iyer reached the milestone with two runs through point off pacer Kyle Jamieson. Before Iyer, his fellow Mumbaikar Prithvi Shaw was the last India batter to register a century on Test debut in 2018, scoring 134 against West Indies in Rajkot.
Iyer said, "It's the best feeling in the world. When we came to Dubai, we were on top of the table and now starting with a bang in this game, I feel that the spirits are high in the team. We need to continue with the same momentum and let's hope that we have a blast of a season."
It's raining milestones in the IPL with Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, and Wriddhiman Saha crossing batting marks in the league and the T20 format.
Last year, Delhi Capitals lost to Mumbai Indians by five wickets in the final played in Dubai. Shreyas Iyer was the top scorer with an unbeaten 65 off 50.
Mumbai is placed alongside Delhi, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Pondicherry in Elite Group D and will be playing all their matches in Jaipur.
