IPL 2023, Match 2, Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders – Match preview and result prediction

Day two of IPL 2023 is a double-header, with Punjab Kings hosting Kolkata Knight Riders in the first game at IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. Two teams that finished sixth and seventh on the points table last season have a new captain-coach combination this time. While Shikhar Dhawan and Trevor Bayliss will oversee proceedings at the PBKS camp, Nitish Rana and Chandrakant Pandit will be at the helm at KKR. Specifically for KKR, Shreyas Iyer’s injury has resulted in a change in captaincy for this season.

Moreover, both teams will miss some star players for the opening encounter. While England’s Jonny Bairstow is out for the whole season, Liam Livingstone (injury scare) and seamer Kagiso Rabada (national duty) also remain out of contention for today’s game for Punjab. On the other hand, KKR will miss the Bangladesh star pair of Shakib Al Hasan and Litton Das as they are involved bilateral series against Ireland.

Team combinations are something to look forward to for both teams. After releasing Mayank Agarwal ahead of this season, captain Dhawan could get company from Prabhsimran Singh, Australia’s Matthew Short or even Sri Lanka’s Bhanuka Rajapaksa. The addition of IPL’s costliest buy-ever Sam Curran will boost their bowling line-up, which includes Indian internationals like Arshdeep Singh and Rahul Chahar.

For Kolkata Knight Riders, we could see a new opening pair in Afghanistan’s Rahmanullah Gurbaz and N Jagadeesan whereas Venkatesh Iyer could take up the number three spot. With a sorted middle order, KKR’s bowling will pose some threat to Punjab with star names like Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Shardul Thakur and Lockie Ferguson.

Given the introduction of the new impact-player rule, it remains to be seen what strategy both teams apply while finalising their XIs.

Here are the predicted XIs of both teams for today’s game –

Punjab’s likely XI vs KKR –

Shikhar Dhawan, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Sikandar Raza, Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran, Rishi Dhawan, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar and Arshdeep Singh

Kolkata’s likely XI vs PBKS –

N Jagadeesan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy

Considering both the squads and their record at the venue and against each other, former two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders look favourite to beat Punjab. 

Punjab Kings Squad – Shikhar Dhawan(c), Matthew Short, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Shahrukh Khan, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Sikandar Raza, Sam Curran, Rishi Dhawan, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Raj Bawa, Nathan Ellis, Baltej Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Atharva Taide, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Mohit Rathee, Shivam Singh

Kolkata Knight Riders Squad – Venkatesh Iyer, Rahmanullah Gurbaz(w), Nitish Rana(c), Rinku Singh, N Jagadeesan, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakaravarthy, Umesh Yadav, David Wiese, Mandeep Singh, Anukul Roy, Kulwant Khejroliya, Vaibhav Arora, Harshit Rana, Suyash Sharma