KKR and PBKS hope to put past results behind them ahead of both teams’ IPL 2023 campaign opener

In what is going to be the second contest of IPL 2023, Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders will look to find an outlet for a victorious start after what felt like a sweltering summer with bare minimum results for both the sides in IPL 2022.

Punjab Kings started their IPL 2022 campaign on a high after pipping the Royal Challengers Bangalore in a run-fest in the curtain-raiser. Surprisingly, the fortunes changed for both sides as RCB resuscitated their campaign handsomely while PBKS found themselves sinking in the unwanted waters of despair, finishing in the 6th place of the points table with 7 wins and a net run rate of +0.126.

Kolkata Knight Riders had a contrasting campaign to that of 2021, a season in which they finished as the runners-up. In 2022, KKR suffered a staggering dip, influenced heavily by the poor form of their star players. 

In a battle of two teams who are no strangers to the glitz and glam of the tournament, both sides will hope to change their fortunes after a year of reticence where the challenge has been overwhelming. The two teams also have new leaders in place, with Shikhar Dhawan set to captain the Kings and Nitish Rana named the skipper of the Knight Riders in Shreyas Iyer’s absence, and the duo will hope to get their captaincy tenures off to a positive start. 

While Iyer’s absence leaves a big hole in KKR’s middle order, PBKS will be without dynamic opener Jonny Bairstow for the whole of IPL 2023 and who Punjab pick to partner Dhawan at the top could also be a deciding factor in the game.

Head to head:

Matches played: 30

Won by PBKS: 20

Won by KKR: 10

Match Details:

Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders, IPL 2023 Match 2

Venue: Punjab Cricket Association Stadium

Date: 1st April, 2023

Time: 3:30 PM

Squads:

Punjab Kings:

Shikhar Dhawan (c), Jitesh Sharma (wk), Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Shahrukh Khan, Matthew Short, Harpreet Bhatia, Shivam Singh, Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone, Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Atharva Taide, Raj Bawa, Mohit Rathee, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar, Baltej Singh, V Kaverappa.

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Nitish Rana (Captain), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav, Tim Southee, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Anukul Roy, Rinku Singh, Narayan Jagadeesan, Vaibhav Arora, Suyash Sharma, David Weise, Kulwant Khejrolia, Mandeep Singh, Litton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Shreyas Iyer (ruled out temporarily due to injury).