Mullanpur, April 9: Both teams have played four matches each so far and have also won a couple of games in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
They appear to be almost equally balanced too. Cricket fans and experts may rate the contest between them as battle of equals, when Punjab Kings (PBKS) face Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 23rd match of the IPL 2024.
But Punjab will definitely enjoy the advantage of home crowd support against Hyderabad (SRH) at Mullanpur Cricket Stadium, here on Tuesday.
The reason being Punjab have chosen the New PCA Stadium in Mullanpur, as their new home ground this season instead of the PCA Stadium in Mohali.
The local fans too have extended their warm support to Punjab team at the new stadium during their first match against Delhi Capitals. PBKS also did not dishearten the locals as they beat Rishabh Pant's Delhi Capitals by 4 wickets in a thrilling contest.
But the Tuesday match would be the first evening match as the first one was an afternoon battle against Delhi. Shikhar Dhawan led PBKS may be eager to put their best foot forward against SRH under glittering lights and thousands of colourful crowd cheering them.
Interestingly, both Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow, the two batting pillars of the Punjab side, were earlier been part of the Hyderabad franchise for a couple of seasons.
Hyderabad and Punjab have faced each other in 21 matches in IPL. Out of these 21 games, Hyderabad have won 14 whereas Punjab have come out victorious on 7 occasions.
Sunrisers Hyderabad and Punjab Kings look like two teams with the same journey. With two wins from four games SRH are on the fifth and PBKS are on the sixth, sitting in the middle of the points table.
Match time: The match starts at 7:30 PM IST (2:00 PM GMT) with toss taking place half an hour prior to the match i.e., 7:00 PM (1:30 PM GMT)
Match venue: Mullanpur Cricket Stadium.
Live broadcast on television in India: PBKS v SRH match will be broadcast live via Star Sports Network.
Probable XIs:
Surisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (Captain), Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Aiden Markram, Shahbaz Ahmed, Heinrich Klaasen (wicket-keeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy/Washington Sundar, Abdul Samad, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Jaydev Unadkat.
Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Jonny Bairstow (wicket-keeper), Prabhsimran Singh, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shashank Singh, Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh.
Despite the result, it is expected to be a thrilling contest between the two sides, who are almost equally balanced and would be keen to win the game. (With IANS support)
