LSG coach Justin Langer has said it may take a little more time before Shamar Joseph is unleashed on the IPL.
The two teams will now play in Lucknow, which was a low bounce and low totals venue the previous year. Here, the home team typically prefers black to red, and the circumstances varied based on the color of the soil. On Saturday, a red-soil pitch is predicted, which could imply less of a celebration for the spinners and more bounce and pace for the quicks.
If that’s how things play out, LSG’s pace unit will probably be under pressure because, theoretically, Kings’ more all-around attack, which consists of Kagiso Rabada, Sam Curran, Arshdeep Singh, and Harshal Patel, is stronger than their trio of Mohsin Khan, Naveen-ul-Haq, and Yash Thakur (they haven’t looked at Shamar Joseph yet).
How can LSG reconcile? With a batting lineup that includes Quinton de Kock, Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Kyle Mayers, Ayush Badoni, and KL Rahul, they are a high-voltage unit. The batting powerhouse Kings aren’t far behind in the standings, but Jonny Bairstow hasn’t scored for them in the same manner as he did for Sunrisers Hyderabad (he missed IPL 2023 due to injury).
The likes of Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone, and Shikhar Dhawan, along with the hard-hitting Dhawan, need to make sure that the Kings finish among the top teams in terms of scoring, as opposed to last year, when their combined strike rate of 143.80 was sixth overall.
Nicholas Pooran, Marcus Stoinis, and Quinton de Kock are just a few of the powerful players who make up LSG, although the first two are still underutilized. They should take care of this issue as quickly as possible.
With the exception of Shikhar Dhawan’s team losing a crucial match due to death bowling against RCB, Punjab’s two matches have mostly gone as planned. In contrast to past seasons, PBKS boasts a far more formidable bowling unit that covers the majority of bases.
Venue : Bharat Ratna Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana Cricket Stadium, Lucknow.
LSG Probable XI: KL Rahul (c&wk), Quinton de Kock, Ayush Badoni, Nicholas Pooran, Marcus Stoinis/Kyle Mayers, Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohsin Khan, Yash Thakur, Naveen-ul-Haq.
PK Probable XI: Shikhar Dhawan(c), Jonny Bairstow, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma(wk), Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar.
