LSG didn’t have a good match against RR at all. They lost early wickets and always lagged behind the required rate before some fireworks from Nicholas Pooran brought them closer. The batting performance was unconvincing in the sense that there lacked intent at the top from KL Rahul, and the middle order looked shaky. Nevertheless, we believe there’s a lot of potential within the batting lineup. Quinton de Kock and Devdutt Padikkal are two brilliant left-handed attacking batsmen who are in form and should pose a good challenge to the PBKS bowling. In fact, KL Rahul has had good outings against PBKS as well and will be looking to capitalize on that. With Deepak Hooda, Ayush Badoni, and Nicholas Pooran in the mix, there’s no shortage of firepower in this lineup. We just hope Nicholas Pooran doesn’t find himself too deep in the lineup and unable to make an impact. The bowling lineup in the previous match was very poor. Mohsin Khan and Yash Thakur leaked 88 runs in seven overs. Navin ul Haq was expensive as well, and onlyKrunal Pandya could control the flow of runs. This is an area where LSG might need to make some changes to try and find the right balance.
The Punjab Kings have emerged as one of the least impressive teams in IPL 2024. They were fortunate to defeat DC, but they failed to capitalize on some clear opportunities against RCB. There are some serious issues with the composition of the PBKS squad, which, in our opinion, will not allow them to mount a serious challenge for the title this season. Currently, the productivity of Shikhar Dhawan isn’t quite high enough. He’s very consistent and occupies the crease for long periods, but this could actually lead to even more pressure on the players around him. Johnny Bairstow threatened to score quickly but lost his wicket early in both matches. We don’t rate Prabsimran Singh or Sam Curran highly with the bat, especially in how they’re utilized in PBKS. Liam Livingstone is a world-class player in this format, but he’s not the most consistent. It seems like the PBKS batting is always just one or two wickets away from trouble. The bowling lineup isn’t much better either. Harpreet Brar was outstanding in the previous match, well supported by Kagiso Rabada. However, apart from these two, PBKS is struggling to find any semblance of control. Arshdeep Singh was expensive, Rahul Chahar made no impact, and Sam Curran doesn’t pose much of a threat. In this competition, PBKS clearly stands out as the weaker team.
