IPL 2023: PBKS vs KKR, Today Match Prediction: The second match of the 16th edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) is scheduled to be played between Punjab Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders. Both teams failed to make it to the playoffs last season and will be looking to start their IPL 2023 campaign on a high. Punjab have appointed Shikhar Dhawan as their 14th captain in the history of IPL while KKR have been forced to name an interim skipper to replace Shreyas Iyer. Shreyas will most likely miss the entire season due to back injury but the franchise is hopeful that he will play at some point this season.
PBKS have already signed Matthew Short as Bairstow's replacement while they are missing Liam Livingstone's services as well for the opening game of the season. Kagiso Rabada will also be unavailable for this match as he will be involved in ODIs vs Netherlands starting from today. For KKR, there are no such issues when it comes to foreign players but they are extremely thin on backups in the squad and it remains to be seen who replaces Shreyas Iyer in the playing XI.
Match Details
Match: IPL 2023, Match 2
Venue: Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
Time: 3:30 PM IST
Broadcast and Live Streaming: Star Sports Network and JioCinema
Probable Playing XIs
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (C), Prabhsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sikandar Raza, Shahrukh Khan, Jitesh Sharma (WK), Rishi Dhawan, Sam Curran, Nathan Ellis, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar
Kolkata Knight Riders: Rahmanullah Gurbaz/N Jagadeesan (WK), Venkatesh Iyer, Mandeep Singh/Anukul Roy, Nitish Rana (C), Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Varun Chakaravarthy, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Umesh Yadav
Pitch and Weather Report
The surface in Mohali is always good for pacers with the new ball nipping around. The batters will have to careful to start the innings before playing their shots. Also, batitng might get easy as the game progresses. With this being the first match of the season at the venue, team winning the toss is expected to bowl first.
It is a bad news for the fans on the weather front as conditions are cloudy in Mohali at the moment and will continue to remain the same during match time. There is more than 40% chance of rain with showers expected around 5 PM.
Predictions
Best Batter of the Match: Shikhar Dhawan
Shikhar Dhawan has a point to prove this season having lost his place from India's limited-overs side. He was dropped from the ODIs recently in favour of Shubman Gill. He has experience of leading an IPL team as well and makes sure he enjoys his time in the middle. With key players unavailable, PBKS will hope that Dhawan clicks for them in the opener.
Best Bowler of the Match: Sunil Narine
Sunil Narine's bowling remains a mystery after so many years. Irrespective of his team's result, Narine is always an economical bowler. His four overs will be important for KKR and one shouldn't be surprised if PBKS batters look to play his spell out.
Who will win the Match: Punjab Kings (PBKS)
