Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) will start their campaign in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 on March 27 (Sunday). The third match of the 15th edition of IPL will be played at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.
Major changes
Both Bangalore and Punjab have made major changes in their teams. Punjab did not retain their former skipper KL Rahul and appointed Indian batter Mayank Agarwal as the new leader of the team. On the other hand, RCB picked Faf du Plessis as their new captain after resignation of Virat Kohli.
Punjab Kings roped in players like Shikhar Dhawan, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Jonny Bairstow, Liam Livingstone and Odean Smith. On the other hand, Royal Challengers Bangalore signed players like Faf du Plessis, Wanindu Hasaranga, Harshal Patel and Dinesh Karthik at the mega auction for IPL 2022.
In the first match Punjab Kings will miss their two important players and they are- English batter Jonny Bairstow and Kagiso Rabada will not be there. In a situation like this, Shikhar Dhawan and Mayank Agarwal can open the batting for Punjab. Liam Livingstone and Shahrukh Khan will add more strength to the batting unit. In the bowling department, the Punjab-based franchise will depend a lot on Arshdeep Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar.
Ahead of the mega IPL auction 2022, Punjab Kings had decided to retain Mayank Agarwal and Arshdeep Singh.
RCB playing XI
On the other hand, RCB in all likelihood will open their batting with Anuj Rawat and skipper Faf du Plessis. Later, former RCB skipper Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror and Dinesh Karthik will prove to be crucial for the RCB batting. In the bowling unit, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj and Wanindu Hasaranga will have to produce a brilliant show for the Bangalore-based franchise.
RCB had retained former skipper Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and Mohammed Siraj ahead of the mega auction.
RCB probable probable playing XI
Faf du Plessis (captain), Anuj Rawat, Virat Kohli, Mahipal Lomror, Sherfane Rutherford, Dinesh Karthik (wicketkeeper), Wanindu Hasaranga, David Willey, Harshal Patel, Shahbaz Ahmed, Mohammed Siraj
Punjab Kings probable playing XI
Shikhar Dhawan, Mayank Agarwal (captain), Liam Livingstone, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Shahrukh Khan, Jitesh Sharma (wicketkeeper), Odean Smith, Harpreet Brar, Sandeep Sharma, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh
