Punjab Kings vs Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Punjab Kings are all set to lock horns in the 60th match of the ongoing IPL at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on May 13th.

The team of Punjab Kings witnessed many ups and downs in this season, and with 5 wins and 6 losses, they are currently in the 8th position on the points table.

Punjab Kings’ opening combination of Jonny Bairstow and Shikhar Dhawan is good. At one down, they have Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who impressed everyone with his quick cameos and if he plays a big inning today then Punjab can post a good total if batted first.

These three have to take full responsibility even in run-chase as well to give their team a perfect start and if one of them will able to play an unbeaten knock then the game will be on Punjab’s side.

The only concern for them in their batting line-up is their captain Mayank Agarwal itself, who has scored 176 runs at an average of 19.56 in 10 games he played so far. Although Liam Livingstone at fifth and Jitesh Sharma at sixth, and all-rounder Rishi Dhawan at seventh provide stability to Punjab’s batting line-up.

Talking about Punjab bowlers, the trio of Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada as fast bowlers, and Rahul Chahar as spinner are taking wickets. But the last against Rajasthan Royals was an unforgettable one for Punjab’s bowlers as even after they have 190 runs to defend in 20 overs, the Kings lose the game by 6 wickets with 2 balls to spare. Apart from Arshdeep Singh and Rishi Dhawan, all other regular bowlers conceded 10-plus runs.

Considering the strong batting line-up, Punjab will be aiming to post a good score if batted first. Their bowling is a concern for every Punjab Kings fan as they don’t play yet as per their caliber, but they have to play good cricket in order to remain in IPL 2022 playoffs contention.

They currently have 10 points and the Mayank led-side has to win all three remaining games with good margins to be in the race for playoffs.

(PBKS) Probable Playing XI: Mayank Agarwal (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Rishi Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh and Vaibhav Arora.