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Plagued by injuries and unavailability of a few foreign players, both Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders would still look to put their best foot forward as they lock horns in their opening IPL encounter in Mohali on Saturday. These are the two franchises, which over the years have flattered to deceive. Inconsistency in team selections seemed to have also affected the them badly.
After finishing at the sixth place in the points table last season, Punjab Kings are all set to begin their campaign for the upcoming edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday. Led by the veteran opening batter Shikhar Dhawan, the Kings will be guided by World Cup winning coach Trevor Bayliss, as they eye their maiden IPL title. During the auctions, PBKS bought England all-rounder Sam Curran for a whopping total of Rs 18.50 crore and made him the costliest buy in IPL history.
England's power-hitter Liam Livingstone will miss the opening game for Punjab Kings in the IPL as he is yet to get a fitness clearance from the ECB after recovering from a knee injury he suffered in December. Punjab Kings open their IPL campaign against KKR at home on April 1. Livingstone, who is a key member of the Punjab Kings squad for his all-round abilities, has not played competitive cricket since picking up the knee injury on his Test debut in Pakistan in December. The 29-year-old had also suffered an ankle injury during the Hundred competition at home last year.
Star batter Virat Kohli can also be called a synonym of Royal Challengers Bangalore as he has completed 15 years with the Indian Premier League franchise. Beginning his IPL career with its inauguration in 2008, Kohli has seen many ups and downs with the teams and emerged as the most prolific player of the franchise. The 34-year-old batter led RCB from 2013 to 2021, before Faf du Plessis took over the reins in 2022. For the past 15 years, Kohli has helped RCB claim historic wins on numerous occasions with his powerful batting performance and amazing leadership skills.
New Punjab Kings head coach Trevor Bayliss has listed out death overs batting and wickets in the middle overs as the two key areas of improvement for the team aiming to end its title drought in the IPL. Punjab finished an underwhelming sixth in the previous four editions with their only final appearance coming way back in 2014. Bayliss, a World Cup winning coach who also guided KKR to two IPL trophies, is expected to turn an inconsistent Punjab into a consistent outfit.
Veteran opening batter Shikhar Dhawan has dropped down in the pecking order due to the rise of youngsters, Shubman Gill and Ishan Kishan, as far as the Indian team is concerned. Dhawan, who was a mainstay in the team for nearly seven years, was dropped from the side following a lean patch with the bat. Sharing his views on the sudden axing, Dhawan said that since he was only playing ODIs, Gill's heroics across formats were too good to be ignored.
Having found guilty of chopping and changing far too many times, Punjab Kings will be relying on World Cup winning coach Trevor Bayliss and new skipper Shikhar Dhawan to shed their perennial underachievers tag this IPL season. The reputed Australian coach knows a thing or two about winning, having guided England to the 2019 ODI World Cup and KKR to titles in 2012 and 2014. Punjab Kings owners have roped him in with the sole objective of lifting the elusive IPL trophy.
Sandeep Sharma was signed by Rajasthan Royals as a replacement for the injured Prasidh Krishna ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season. Krishna is currently going through rehabilitation after undergoing surgery for a back problem. "Rajasthan Royals would like to confirm that their 26-year-old pacer Prasidh Krishna will miss the 2023 season of the IPL owing to a stress fracture surgery, and the rehabilitation process that will follow,” the official statement read. "Prasidh has suffered a lumbar stress fracture and has been advised surgery which will mean he needs more time to recover and get back to competitive cricket. We are doing everything possible to support and aid Prasidh's recovery process.”