MULLANPUR (Punjab): Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bat first during his side’s Indian Premier League (IPL) match against five-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at Mullanpur on Tuesday.
After two thumping away wins, PBKS’s home season started on a poor note with a loss to Rajasthan Royals. Their next challenge at home will be five-time champions CSK, who are currently struggling and are at ninth spot with a win and three losses. PBKS is currently at fourth spot with two wins and a loss.
🚨 News from New Chandigarh 🚨@PunjabKingsIPL won the toss and elected to bat against @ChennaiIPL in Match 2⃣2⃣
Updates ▶️ https://t.co/HzhV1Vtl1S #TATAIPL | #PBKSvCSK pic.twitter.com/6o3ZWXsnI6
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 8, 2025
Speaking during the toss, PBKS skipper Shreyas said, “We are going to have a bat first, it’s simply because we had a discussion how our batting lineup is and we need to make the best use of it. In the last game, the dew was not that much but that is not in our control but we need to back out strengths. We are going in with the same team. We have got really good spin bowlers in our team but it is important how we use them on a given occasion. The last game the ball was not turning very much, got to give credit to the Rajasthan batsmen as well, they batted really well. We hope we can execute whatever we have planned today.”
CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad also said, “We were looking to bat first as well, pretty dry wicket, new conditions for us and we need to adapt as soon as possible. We have been bowling pretty well but we have conceded more than 15 runs an over twice in an innings, hopefully we can improve on that. We also need to improve our fielding. Same team for us. Me batting at 3 gives a bit more balance to our squad, it was decided during the auction time and hoping our openers will come good today. We have always been behind the game in the powerplay, it is just about going there and enjoying yourselves.”
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Shreyas Iyer(c), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal
Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w), Ravichandran Ashwin, Noor Ahmad, Mukesh Choudhary, Khaleel Ahmed, Matheesha Pathirana. (ANI)
