When it comes to holding their nerve in tense situations, the Punjab Kings haven’t yet come to the party. Going into the PBKS vs CSK clash in Dharamsala, they have a good chance of keeping their hopes alive for a top-four finish.
However, if they look at the way they lost a few matches, they would perhaps be so frustrated with their collective performances. In their game against the Sunrisers Hyderabad, where they lost by 2 runs, it was their poor fielding that did the damage. Even in the nine-run loss to Mumbai Indians wouldn’t have happened if their top order showed some responsibility, as was the case against the Gujarat Titans.
The Chennai Super Kings on the other hand missed their chances at the crucial juncture of the game. Even after taking early wickets against the Lucknow Super Giants, they couldn’t defend 212 at their home fortress. While against Punjab in their last game, they made so many mistakes in tactics and game planning.
IPL 2024: PBKS vs CSK Playing 11- Match 53
The biggest miss for the CSK side from hereon to the rest of the IPL 2024 will be Mustafizur Rahman, who has returned home for national duties. Both the Sri Lanka players, Matheesha Pathirana and Maheesh Theekshana have flown back home for their visas but aren’t guaranteed to come back for the PBKS vs CSK encounter.
Deepak Chahar, who left the field in the first 10 minutes of CSK’s bowling in the last game, has stayed back in Chennai and is set to miss the game. There is no news yet on Tushar Deshpande, who missed the last game with the flu.
CSK Playing 11:
The problem of selection makes life hard for the visitors. Ajinkya Rahane’s off-form has been another concern for them in this edition. The opener has managed only 199 runs in 10 games but at a strike rate of only 122.83. Ravindra Jadeja, who is getting the promotion at number four in the last few games, has managed only 133 runs at an average of 19.
In the case of their batting positives, their captain Ruturaj Gaikwad is the highest run-getter of the IPL 2024, before the PBKS vs CSK clash, with 509 runs in 10 innings at a strike rate of 146.68 with four fifties and one century. Shivam Dube too has been mostly consistent, with his 350 runs so far at a strike rate of 171.56.
Mustafizur Rahman ended his season with 14 wickets at an economy of 9.26, while Pathirana picked up 13 wickets at a superb economy of 7.68. Tushar Deshpande too has been fabulous with his 10 wickets at an economy of 8.65. It will be interesting to see how they balance their team in the upcoming PBKS vs CSK clash.
CSK’s line-up vs PBKS: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Ajinkya Rahane/ Rachin Ravindra, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali, Daryl Mitchell, MS Dhoni (wk.), Shardul Thakur, Richard Gleeson, Tushar Deshpande/Mukesh Choudhary, Simarjeet Singh. (Impact Sub: Sameer Rizvi).
PBKS Playing 11:
It’s quite easy to understand that none of the Punjab Kings batters have performed well in this IPL 2024 so far. Shashank Singh is their top run-getter with 288 runs at a strike rate of 169.41, and sits at number 21 in the most runs scored list of the tournament.
Jonny Bairstow has managed 250 runs at a strike rate of 165.56, but he needs to develop his consistency in this competition, going into the PBKS vs CSK clash. In the bowling department, Arshdeep Singh has nailed 13 wickets but at an economy of just over 10, and the same goes with Harshal Patel, who has pocketed 14 wickets so far, but at an economy of 10.24.
PBKS’s line-up vs CSK: Prabhsimran Singh, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran (c), Rilee Rossouw, Jitesh Sharma (wk,), Shashank Singh, Ashutosh Sharma, Harshal Patel, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar. (Impact Sub: Arshdeep Singh).
The PBKS vs CSK encounter will happen on May 05, 2024, at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium in Dharamsala.
