The recent form of Punjab has not been good. They recently secured consecutive victories over the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Chennai Super Kings, but otherwise, they have only two wins in their last seven matches. If they lose to Bangalore here, the Kings are likely to drop out of contention for the next stage of IPL 2024. Shashank Singh and Jonny Bairstow have been the top performers for Punjab in this IPL season. Singh has scored 315 runs, while Bairstow has scored 257, and both have a strike rate of over 160 per 100 deliveries. However, Singh and Bairstow overall lack support from the players surrounding them. Harshal Patel has been an outstanding bowler for Punjab this year. The star pacer has taken 17 wickets in 11 matches in IPL 2024. However, this was not enough to earn him a place in the Indian team for the T20 World Cup next month. Punjab teammate Arshdeep Singh was selected by India after taking 15 wickets in 11 matches.
Bangalore suffered six consecutive defeats before winning their next three matches against the Gujarat Titans (twice) and the Sunrisers Hyderabad. The Royal Challengers managed to climb from 10th to 7th position in the table out of 10 teams. It’s indeed a recent impressive form, but will it last…? Virat Kohli has typically been at the forefront of Bangalore’s success this season. The right-handed talisman has scored 542 runs in 11 innings, averaging 68. It’s noteworthy that Faf du Plessis has found some form. The captain of Bangalore has scored two half-centuries and a couple of other valuable knocks in his last five innings. Bangalore lacks bowling resources. Unlike Punjab, in this IPL, RCB has only one bowler with 10 or more wickets. Yuzvendra Chahal bowls swiftly and accurately. Mohammed Siraj and Cameron Green have weighed in with eight and seven wickets respectively.
