Former Indian opener Aakash Chopra has picked his ideal playing XI for the Punjab Kings for IPL 2021. Aakash Chopra put his thinking cap on to pick the strongest possible Kings XI Punjab lineup for the upcoming IPL. Punjab Kings will be open their IPL 2021 campaign against Rajasthan Royals on 12th April 2021. Chopra picked up the strongest XI for Punjab Kings.
Aakash Chopra Picks Up Best Possible XI For Punjab Kings
Aakash Chopra feels that KL Rahul and West Indian batting legend Chris Gayle should open the batting for the Punjab Kings. Chris Gayle can be destructive in the powerplays and KL Rahul can capitalize the innings further with Mayank Agarwal. While Chopra wanted Mayank Agarwal to walk in at No.3. He wants Nicholas Pooran and Deepak Hooda to occupy the No.4 and No.5 slots for Punjab.
Here comes the problem with Punjab Kings that they don’t have anyone who could blast through the end. At No. 7 he wants Sarfaraz Khan or Shahrukh Khan or Mandeep Singh to play which are the best possible options.
“I will be going with KL Rahul and Gayle as the openers, Mayank Agarwal at No.3, Pooran at No.4, Hooda at No.5, and Moises Henriques at No.6. You should please play Henriques as he will add that balance to your side. At No.7, you can have anyone. You can play Shahrukh, Mandeep or Sarfaraz – whoever you play it won’t make any difference. But if you have this kind of batting, you can play with a lot of freedom, something that they should do this season,” said Chopra on his YouTube channel.
“Then four bowlers – Ashwin, Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, and Jhye Richardson. This will be my team, if you feel that you need to play one less spinner, you have Arshdeep as an option available,” concluded Chopra.
Aakash Chopra’s Predicted playing XI:
KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Moises Henriques, Shahrukh Khan/Mandeep Singh/Sarfaraz Khan, Murugan Ashwin, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Jhye Richardson
Punjab Kings bowling still doesn’t look up to the mark but their front 4 can do some extraordinary things.