The 21st match of the IPL 2021 will be played between Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera, Ahmedabad. The match is a night one and will begin from 7.30 PM IST on April 26, 2021.
The Punjab Kings are placed 5th on the IPL 2021 points table with 2 wins in the five matches, while KKR is placed last on the points table with only one win in five matches. The Eoin Morgan-led side has lost the last four of their matches on a trot.
IPL 2021: “IPL is going ahead”, says BCCI amid early exits by players as COVID cases surge in India
This match is highly important for both sides as they are struggling to get a string of wins under their belts and KKR needs to get on the winning bandwagon.
Keeping this in mind, Team COC presents the Predicted Playing XIs for the PBKS v KKR match to be played in Ahmedabad.
PUNJAB KINGS (PBKS)
The KL Rahul-led Punjab Kings side has KL Rahul looking to anchor the innings, while others play around him. However, the PBKS side needs its captain to take the bowlers on as they have a decent batting lineup to boot for.
IPL 2021: RCB’s Adam Zampa and Kane Richardson pull out of IPL due to personal reasons
Mayank Agarwal and Chris Gayle are amongst runs but need a couple of big knocks each under their belt to truly break out. Deepak Hooda has done well at no.4 and while Nicholas Pooran has made three ducks in four matches, he is just one knock away from getting his confidence back and promotion in the batting order may help him.
On the bowling side, Ravi Bishnoi’s inclusion has made the PBKS attack quite a potent one with Mohammad Shami leading the way and Arshdeep Singh has supported him well. PBKS can bring in Chris Jordan for added bowling expertise and with him and Moises Henriques, PBKS might have a very good bowling attack as well.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS (KKR)
The KKR team is just low on confidence and despite captain Eoin Morgan urging his batsmen to show intent throughout the innings, saying that they were behind what was needed from the start against the Rajasthan Royals.
One of the possible reasons for that is their openers Nitish Rana and Shubman Gill are more anchors than aggressors. In the IPL, Gill has a strike rate of 120.10 in the powerplay, while Rana scores at 114.39 in that phase. They should instead open with Rahul Tripathi, who has a powerplay strike rate of 141.43 and have Rana at No. 3.
If the top three can give a good start, the likes of Morgan, Dinesh Karthik, and Andre Russell have enough firepower to put on a huge score in the last overs. But they need enough balls to face for them to make a difference.
One other change that KKR must make is bringing in Lockie Ferguson to bowl in the powerplays as Pat Cummins’ record at the start of the innings is abysmal, to say the least. This IPL, Pat Cummins has gone for 9.6 runs an over while bowling in the first ten overs of a match. Moreover, he is yet to pick up a wicket in that phase.
COC PBKS Predicted Playing XI:
KL Rahul (C&WK), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Deepak Hooda, Nicholas Pooran, Moises Henriques, Shahrukh Khan, Chris Jordan, Mohammad Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
COC KKR Predicted Playing XI:
Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (C), Dinesh Karthik (WK), Andre Russell, Pat Cummins, Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
