State of Play
Neither the Punjab Kings nor the Delhi Capitals have ever won the Indian Premier League title, and after respective group-stage finishes of eighth and ninth in 2023, both will be targeting major improvements this year.
The Kings gave themselves every chance of making the play-offs last term only for four losses in their final five games to derail them, and they must ensure there is no hangover when they open their 2024 season in Mohali.
There’s plenty to like for England fans, with Punjab adding Chris Woakes to their sizeable English contingent already including Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone and Sam Curran.
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Bairstow missed the entirety of last season through injury and has struggled for form across formats in recent months. He may find himself out of the XI at the outset of the new campaign as the Kings bid to end their nine-year play-off exile.
Their first opponents Delhi are also relying on returning players, most notably captain Rishabh Pant, who has not played any form of competitive cricket since being injured in a serious road accident in December 2022.
Major pressure will rest on Pant’s shoulders as Delhi look to avoid a repeat of last season, when five straight losses to start the year ended their play-off bid before it had even begun.
With plenty of question marks hanging over two teams who have struggled in recent years, Saturday’s early game looks a tough one to call.
Udeek di ghadi mukkan vali ae! ⏳
Just 1️⃣ day to go until our 🦁s show their jazba at 𝐒𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐚 𝐀𝐤𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐚 𝟐.𝟎! 🏟️#SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings #JazbaHaiPunjabi #TATAIPL2024 pic.twitter.com/t1YvkISfO4
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) March 22, 2024
Expected line-ups
Punjab Kings: Shikar Dhawan (c), Prabhsimran Singh, Rilee Rossouw, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh.
Delhi Capitals: David Warner, Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, Rishabh Pant (c), Shai Hope, Ricky Bhui, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Anrich Nortje, Khaleel Ahmed, Mukesh Kumar.
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the IPL to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live via Sky Sports Cricket. Tomorrow’s game will get under way at 10:00 UK time.
Prediction
The second game of the 2024 IPL season could come down to a pure shoot-out between the Kings’ pace attack and the top order of the Capitals.
Though it remains to be seen what sort of form Pant will return in, the India wicketkeeper has plenty of quality around him, and Warner and Marsh’s ability against pacemen could be decisive in a narrow away win.
