MALLAPUR : Sam Curran-led Punjab Kings (PBKS) won the toss and opted to bat against Shubman Gill’s Gujarat Titans (GT) in the 37th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.
Punjab are standing in ninth place on the IPL 2024 standings with four points after winning two of seven matches. They are coming into this match after conceding a 9-run loss against Mumbai Indians (MI).
Meanwhile, last year’s finalist Gujarat Titans (GT) have displayed a sloppy performance in the ongoing tournament. They are standing in eighth place on the IPL 2024 table with six points after winning 3 of 7 matches. They are coming to this game after a 6-wicket loss against Delhi Capitals (DC).
While speaking at the toss, Curran confirmed that Shikhar Dhawan still hasn’t recovered from his injury.
“We are gonna bat first. The third time we have used this pitch, excited to put pressure on the Gujarat bowlers first up and put a good score on the board. Any team can beat anyone. We know if we turn up with the right plans and attitude we can win. It’s about overseas players taking more responsibility and helping the Indian players. Shikhar is still not alright, same team,” Curran said.
GT skipper Gill said that Afghanistan allrounder Azmatullah Omarzai will replace Spencer Johnson in the playing elven.
“I would have bowled first anyway, looks like it’s the same wicket as the last match here. Every game becomes important for us. We have had some niggles (on not being able to settle into a combination). This game Omarzai is back, he had a niggle earlier. He comes in place of Spencer. If we can keep them to around 170 we will be happy,” Gill said.
Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Wriddhiman Saha (Wk), Shubman Gill (C), David Miller, Azmatullah Omarzai, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Sandeep Warrier, Mohit Sharma.
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Sam Curran (C), Prabhsimran Singh, Rilee Rossouw, Liam Livingstone, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma (Wk), Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh. (ANI)