In a few days, Punjab Kings will play Kolkata Knight Riders in their first game of the Indian Premier League 2023 season. Kolkata Knight Riders are a two-time IPL winner.
Shikhar Dhawan and Livingstone both performed admirably for the squad, scoring 460 and 437 runs at averages of 38.33 and 36.41 respectively. Together, these two gave them a potent batting combination, and the latter had his finest IPL season ever. Although there was a lot of hype surrounding him in 2019 and 2021, he failed to seize the spotlight. However, his breakthrough season of 2022 saw him cement his status as a formidable batter in T20 cricket.
The company benefited greatly from the batting unit’s explosiveness in the powerplay, as they were the team that averaged the most runs. Livingstone scored 70 runs from 33 deliveries with an incredible strike rate of 212.12 while remaining reliable and fierce at the same time. In contrast, Bairstow scored 181 runs from nine innings at 170.75 in the first six overs, while Rajapaksa played his part admirably, hitting at 193.10.
SQUAD: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Shahrukh Khan, Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, Raj Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Baltej Singh, Nathan Ellis, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar, Sam Curran, Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Mohit Rathee, Shivam Singh.