The 16th match of the ongoing IPL 2022 will see the clash of Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Gujarat Titans at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai on April 8, 2022. Gujarat Titans have two wins in two matches, while PBKS has registered 2 wins from 3 matches.
This match is expected to be the fight between one team which has some of the biggest hitters playing inhibited cricket in the tournament like Liam Livingstone, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Shahrukh Khan, and Odean Smith, against a team that boasts of some of the best bowlers in the business today like Mohammad Shami, Lockie Ferguson, and Rashid Khan.
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Keeping this in mind, let’s have a look at the COC Predicted Playing XIs for the PBKS v GT match.
PUNJAB KINGS
Punjab Kings will have a lot to think about their playing XI, as to where they will fit Jonny Bairstow in the team, especially with most of their players firing.
While Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, and Liam Livingstone are first-choice picks in the XI, Odean Smith provides a very good balance to the team with his pace bowling and has shown some good batting muscle in the end overs.
This means either Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who has been at his devastating best with the bat, goes out, or they bring in either Raj Bawa to replace Smith to keep the balance.
Shahrukh Khan will be highly eager to get some runs under his bat after scores of 24*,0, and 6, as Jitesh Sharma has put some pressure on him with his debut knock of 26 in 17 balls.
Kagiso Rabada has brought some excitement into the bowling attack, while Vaibhav Arora had a good outing in his first match of the tournament. Rahul Chahar and Arshdeep Singh have become the cornerstones of the PBKS bowling on whom Mayank can depend on giving him wickets in crunch situations.
GUJARAT TITANS
Gujarat Titans (GT) have played uninhibited cricket in both matches thus far.
Matthew Wade and Shubman Gill are yet to fire as an opening pair, and GT will hope that they do soon, as their no.3 Vijay Shankar has struggled to get going with scores of 13 and 4 in two matches and hasn’t looked comfortable at all in the middle.
He can be replaced with Gurkeerat Mann who is known to be a busy bee with the bat, keeping the scorecard moving, and can hit the big shots as well. Hardik Pandya, Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, and Rahul Tewatia have shown that any total is chaseable for them and they can amplify whatever their top order posts with their hitting exploits.
Hardik Pandya bowling regularly is a sight for sore eyes and it brings tremendous balance to their unit as well. Rashid Khan has done a tremendous job with the ball, while Lockie Ferguson and Mohammad Shami have been a nightmare for the opposition top-order batters thus far.
But they have an injury concern with Varun Aaron pulling out after bowling just one over in their last match and they have the option of replacing him with Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, or Pradeep Sangwan, the latter two of whom offer a left-arm option.
PBKS COC Predicted Playing XI:
Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal (C), Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Shahrukh Khan, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Odean Smith, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh, Vaibhav Arora
GT COC Predicted Playing XI:
Matthew Wade (WK), Shubman Gill, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Hardik Pandya (C), Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal, Mohammad Shami
