Punjab Kings (PBKS) skipper Shreyas Iyer scored a brilliant knock of 85 runs in 41 balls during his side’s intra-squad practice match ahead of the Indian Premier League (IPL) campaign at the new PCA Stadium, New Chandigarh. During the match on Wednesday, Iyer’s Team B scored a total of 205 in 20 overs. Team B was powered by Iyer’s hard-hitting knock of 85 in 41 balls. For Team A, Shashank Singh took 2/38. In reply, Team A openers Priyansh Arya and Prabhsimran Singh got their side off to a great as they scored 72 in 31 balls and 66 runs in 42 balls respectively. Vishnu Vinod also played a quickfire cameo of 26* in just 10 balls.
Team A scored 198 runs and fell short of the target by 7 runs. Fast bowler Arshdeep Singh was impressed with figures of 22 runs in 4 overs while taking two wickets, as per a note from the Punjab Kings.
Punjab Kings’ hunt for their first-ever title will kickstart against Gujarat Titans at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on March 25. The team will then return to their home ground, the New PCA Stadium in New Chandigarh, for two home games against Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings
With the 18th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) around the corner, Punjab Kings (PBKS) addressed the media at the season launch press conference taking place on Tuesday, March 18. The press conference was attended by Head Coach Ricky Ponting, Captain Shreyas Iyer and CEO Satish Menon, who delved deeper into the team’s plans and targets for the upcoming season.
Head coach Ponting was all praise for Shreyas as he expressed how glad he is to have the latter as the captain of the side and said he is looking forward to work with him again.
“He’s a great human being. He is an IPL-winning captain. We could not have asked for more. He has only joined the camp a couple of days ago so he is starting to make his mark on the team as a captain and as a leader and that will evolve over the next few days before we get into our first game. But as I said, I could not have been happier,” said Ponting, as quoted from a release by Punjab Kings.
Further explaining how the new squad of the team contains appropriate balance, the two-time World Cup-winning skipper said, “We have had a really good mix of youth and experience. We have really high-quality of Indian players and some really high-quality overseas players as well.”
“I am elated with how the squad has come together. We had our first session here last night which went really good. The boys have trained really well,” he added, expressing his satisfaction with the combination.
Iyer also expressed his excitement to work again with Ponting and explained how his presence is adding to the overall depth of the team.
“He supports everyone. When I worked with him for the first time in the past, he made me feel like I am a great player and I can easily excel in this format. The confidence he gives a player is of a different level,” he said, as quoted from a release by Punjab Kings.
He further deliberated on the team’s objective for the season and said, “The goal is to win the trophy, that is our mindset right now and it’s a step-by-step process, it’s not like you wake up in the morning and do it but the way we are practicing right now and the way we’re sharing our wavelength and camaraderie with each other, it is going really well.”
-SQUAD
-Batters: Shreyas Iyer, Shashank Singh (retained), Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Singh Pannu, Priyansh Arya, Pyla Avinash
-Wicketkeepers: Josh Inglis, Vishnu Vinod, Prabhsimran Singh (retained)
-Allrounders: Glenn Maxwell (spin), Marcus Stoinis (pace), Marco Jansen (pace), Harpreet Brar (spin), Azmatullah Omarzai (pace), Aaron Hardie (pace), Musheer Khan (spin), Suryansh Shedge (pace)
-Spinners: Yuzvendra Chahal, Pravin Dubey
-Fast bowlers: Arshdeep Singh (RTM), Lockie Ferguson, Yash Thakur, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Kuldeep Sen, Xavier Bartlett.
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