IPL 2021: Punjab Kings (PBKS) Predicted Playing XI Against Mumbai Indians (MI)

Punjab Kings (PBKS) have continued to strain in the 2021 edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team, captained by KL Rahul, is currently languishing at the bottom of the points table. Their net run rate of -0.824 is also the worst among all the participating teams in the tournament.

In their previous game, they lost to the David Warner-captained Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), by nine wickets on Wednesday in Chennai. The team was bowled out for 120 and they slumped to a defeat with eight balls left in the match.

Their next match is against Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians (MI) on Friday, April 23 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Four games into the tournament, PBKS have already resorted to a number of changes. It remains to be seen whether or not Rahul’s men make more changes to their playing eleven.

Here’s PBKS’s Predicted Playing XI for IPL 2021 Match 17:

Openers (Mayank Agarwal, KL Rahul (C and WK))

KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal will continue to open the batting for PBKS in the tournament. Rahul is their leading run-scorer, having notched 161 runs at an average and strike rate of 40.25 and 141.22. He has two half-centuries to show for his efforts, but he has succumbed to two failures as well.

Agarwal, on the other hand, has a top score of 69, but apart from that, he has strained to deliver. Overall, the opener has 105 runs at an average and strike rate of 26.25 and 145.83 respectively. PBKS would be hoping for them to fire together and put on a healthy stand for the opening wicket.

Middle-order (Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan)

Chris Gayle, after his 40 in the first game, has struggled, to say the least. The left-hander hasn’t been able to garner any momentum whatsoever. In four games, the Jamaican has scored 76 runs at an average of 19. His strike rate of 118.75 shows that he hasn’t been able to get the scorecard moving.

Gayle might make way for England’s Dawid Malan. Nicholas Pooran’s poor run of form continued as he is yet to get into the double digits. Deepak Hooda has 109 runs and he would be looking to carry on with his form. Shahrukh Khan has been a massive positive as he has 90 runs at an average of 45.

All-rounder (Fabian Allen, Moises Henriques)

In the all-rounder’s department, Fabian Allen and Moises Henriques turned out for the Punjab-based franchise in their previous contest. They replaced Jhye Richardson and Riley Meredith in the eleven. Allen was decent with the ball as he picked one wicket, conceding only 22 runs in his spell.

He also managed to bowl a wicket-maiden as he showed his class. With the bat, he got out cheaply. Henriques wasn’t on top of his game either. He scored 14 runs at a strike rate of 82.35. Moreover, he bowled one over and gave seven overs. Allen and Moises will be looking to perform next time.

Bowlers (Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Shami)

In the bowling department, Arshdeep Singh has arguably been the standout bowler for his team. Though he failed to get a wicket in the last game, the left-armer remains as the leading run-scorer for his team. The youngster has picked up five wickets at an impressive economy rate of 7.50.

Mohammed Shami has picked four wickets but has leaked runs at an economy of 8.78. Murugan Ashwin has looked out of sorts as well. In 11 overs, the leg-spinner has picked up only one wicket. It remains to be seen if PBKS persist with him or give Ravi Bishnoi a chance to show his talent.