PBKS grapple with Ferguson setback ahead of KKR visit

There is every reason to believe that Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings look more threatening as sides in IPL 2025 than what their respective mid-table positions represent at the moment. As the league phase marches towards mid-season, a victory for either of them on Tuesday would put them among those at the top of the table.

The win-loss ratio is enough of an explainer that the campaign has started on an inconsistent note for both teams. Optimistically though, both KKR and PBKS have most of their personnel firing already. Collectively, they have come good at times, and threatening to do it more frequently as the season progresses.

The top half of the table though, much like KKR and PBKS, is brimming with such teams getting their acts right. To be among them would not only be about securing wins in such contests, but also differentiating each other on the Net Run Rate. The margins are thin, yet significant.

PBKS are still fresh from the smashing they received in Hyderabad, unable to defend a mighty total of 245. The surface at their new home ground in Mullanpur isn't going to be any kinder for the bowlers either. KKR do have some concerns in their batting department, but Punjab's home ground is not where they would like to host the misfiring Andre Russell too well. And with an injured Lockie Ferguson set to be ruled out for the rest of the tournament, PBKS have a big concern when it comes to their fast bowling.

Shreyas Iyer, the captain of PBKS, would know a trick or two about his former team, coach and teammates. It would be interesting to see if he's able to press it to his advantage.

When: PBKS vs KKR, Tuesday, April 15, 2024, 7:30 PM IST

Where: Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, Chandigarh

What to expect: In three out of four innings played at the venue, teams have managed to score 200-plus totals. It's uncertain if dew will play a part, but the playing conditions should be fairly comfortable for the batters.

Head to Head: While KKR lead the overall head-to-head against Punjab Kings 21-12 in the IPL, the contests have been evenly balanced in recent years, with both teams winning four matches each since 2020.

Team Watch:

Punjab Kings:

Injury/Unavailability: Ferguson pulled his hamstring in the first over of his spell against SRH and left the field and he's unlikely to be back in the PBKS setup this season, according to fast bowling coach James Hopes. "We're obviously going to have to change our team up a bit with Ferguson not being able to play. Ferguson is out indefinitely, and us getting him back by the end of the tournament is a very low percentage. I think he's done a real decent injury to himself."

Tactics & Matchups: Shreyas Iyer has scored 456 runs in 14 innings at an average of 41.45 with a strike rate of 150-plus against KKR. The PBKS skipper will have a key role to play against the likes of Sunil Narine and Varun CV. Although he has struggled for rhythm so far in this IPL, Yuzvendra Chahal has a good record against KKR (29 wickets in 22 matches at an average of 22.65) and PBKS will be hoping he comes to the party.

Probable XII: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Shashank Singh, Azmatullah Omarzai, Marco Jansen, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vyshak Vijaykumar

Kolkata Knight Riders:

Injuries/Unavailability: The availability of Anrich Nortje, who is yet to play a game this season, remains unknown. Meanwhile, Moeen Ali, who featured in the Chennai game, might make way for Spencer Johnson if KKR opt for an extra pace option.

Tactics & Matchups: Although KKR have used Russell sparingly with the ball this season, they might unleash him against PBKS considering his good record against Iyer and Stoinis. Iyer has been dismissed by Russell 5 times in 9 innings while Stoinis has gotten out to the West Indian thrice in 5 innings.

Probable XII: Sunil Narine, Quinton de Kock (wk), Ajinkya Rahane (c), Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Venkatesh Iyer, Rinku Singh, Andre Russell, Ramandeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Spencer Johnson/Moeen Ali, Varun Chakaravarthy, Vaibhav Arora

Did you know?

- KKR's spinners have the best average (20.62) and the best economy (6.73) among all teams in this IPL. PBKS' spinners, on the other hand, have the highest average (54.4), highest economy (10.46) and the highest strike rate (31.2)

- Since 2024, Glenn Maxwell has scored only 86 runs in 13 innings in the IPL, averaging 6.61 with five ducks and a highest of 30

- Sunil Narine has picked up 34 wickets in 25 matches against PBKS, at an average of 20.02 and an economy of 7.02. He has also scored 251 runs against them with two half-centuries

What they said:

"We have a lot of players in our middle order that are very good players of spin. So that becomes the match-up that we have to win tomorrow night. And with our bowling attack, we need to get Yuzi [Yuzvendra Chahal] into the game more than we're doing. He's just struggling to get into the game at the moment. Against Chennai, just bowling the one over, a very good over at a very important time. He bowled a very good over, but it's just getting him into the tournament. We're five games in and for us to win the IPL, we're going to need him" - James Hopes, PBKS fast bowling coach.