IPL 2022, Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans Playing 11: Jonny Bairstow might get a look in the Punjab playing XI. (Punjab Kings) England batter Jonny Bairstow is out from the three-day mandatory quarantine and had joined the Punjab Kings ahead of their enticing contest against Gujarat Titans on a Brabourne Stadium track where runs are always on offer.
Punjab in their three games have shown that the approach this year would be to go hammer and tongs during the Powerplay overs and set the tempo for the rest of the innings.
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While senior openers Shikhar Dhawan and skipper Agarwal are yet to make significant contributions, it would be an onerous job against the Titans’ attack.
It is the middle-order of Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Livingstone and newcomer Jitesh Sharma, that is expected to provide fireworks with M Shahrukh Khan and Odean Smith at the rear.
With Jonny Bairstow back at the helm, it will be interesting to see who will make way for the England swashbuckling batter in the playing eleven. The toss-up will be between Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Odean Smith. The duo had done nothing harm in the tournament so far but it will be a mistake to bench someone like Bairstow if he is a match fit.
Predicted Playing XIs
Punjab Kings XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal, Jonny Bairstow, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Shahrukh Khan, Jitesh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh.
Gujarat Titans XI: Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Vijay shankar, Hardik Pandya, David Miller, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Aaron.
Teams
Punjab Kings: Mayank Agarwal (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Arshdeep Singh, Kagiso Rabada, Jonny Bairstow, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar, Shahrukh Khan, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Ishan Porel, Liam Livingstone, Odean Smith, Sandeep Sharma, Raj Angad Bawa, Rishi Dhawan, Prerak Mankad, Vaibhav Arora, Writtick Chatterjee, Baltej Dhanda, Ansh Patel, Nathan Ellis, Atharva Taide, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Benny Howell.
Gujarat Titans: Hardik Pandya (Captain), Rashid Khan, Shubman Gill, Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson, Abhinav Sadarangani, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmed, Sai Kishore, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Dominic Drakes, Darshan Nalkande, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Pradeep Sangwan, David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Varun Aaron, B Sai Sudharshan.
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