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IPL 2025, GT vs PBKS 5th Match Match Preview

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New season, fresh start. That seems to be Punjab Kings’ motto before every IPL season, and it’s no different this time. After IPL 2024, they retained only Prabhsimran Singh and Shashank Singh, two uncapped Indians, and brought back Arshdeep Singh and Harpreet Brar at the mega auction in November. The rest of the squad is new, as is their head coach Ricky Ponting.

Ponting wants to make this “the greatest Punjab Kings team”. To be fair, the ingredients are there. Their new captain Shreyas Iyer had had a successful captain-coach relationship with Ponting at Delhi Capitals and led Kolkata Knight Riders to the title last year. Glenn Maxwell and Marcus Stoinis will lend muscle to the middle order, and Lockie Ferguson and Yuzvendra Chahal experience to the bowling unit. This is not the first time PBKS have looked this good, however, and their trophy cabinet remains empty.

Gujarat Titans did not make so many changes. Shubman Gill remains their captain, Rashid Khan their magician and Rahul Tewatia their miracle man. But they’ve added Jos Buttler to their batting and revamped their fast-bowling attack, which now features Kagiso Rabada, Gerald Coetzee, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna. Their middle order looks brittle, but this is not the first time Titans have looked less than ideal. We all know how they surprised everyone in their inaugural season in 2022.

Just like Ponting, Gill has also made his goal public: “maximise the powerplay”. Last season, Titans were by far the slowest side in that phase, stuttering at 7.41 runs per over. Gill himself will have to play an active role if Titans are to improve that number. Among the 22 batters who faced at least 100 balls in the powerplay in IPL 2024, Gill had the fourth-lowest strike rate, 131.08. An improved performance will not only help Gill the Titans captain but also Gill the India player, who has lost his place in the T20I side.

Team news and likely XIIs

Titans depend a lot on their top four, with their batting looking a lot less convincing thereafter, on paper at least. In the age of 250-plus totals, they might be the last remaining bowling team in the IPL.

Gujarat Titans (probable): 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Jos Buttler (wk), 3 Sai Sudharsan, 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Shahrukh Khan, 6 Washington Sundar, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 R Sai Kishore, 10 Kagiso Rabada, 11 Mohammed Siraj, 12 Prasidh Krishna.

Maxwell, Stoinis and Marco Jansen are likely to be the first-choice overseas picks for PBKS, with Josh Inglis and Azmatullah Omarzai competing for the fourth slot. If they go with Omarzai, Priyansh Arya could open the innings with Prabhsimran.

Punjab Kings (probable): 1 Prabhsimran Singh, 2 Josh Inglis (wk), 3 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 Nehal Wadhera, 6 Marcus Stoinis, 7 Shashank Singh, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Harpreet Brar, 10 Vijaykumar Vyshak, 11 Arshdeep Singh, 12 Yuzvendra Chahal.

The big question

Who should be PBKS’ fourth overseas player? Picking Omarzai means opening with two uncapped Indian batters against a strong bowling attack. Picking Inglis leaves them with one fewer bowling option.

Who should Punjab Kings’ fourth overseas player be?

0 votes

In the spotlight: Jos Buttler and Glenn Maxwell

Jos Buttler did not have much success as England’s white-ball captain, especially in the last couple of years of his stint, but his T20 stocks are as strong as ever. Since the start of 2024, he averages nearly 40 at a strike rate of almost 150 in the format. He was the only batter in IPL 2024 to score two hundreds. Given Titans need quick and sustained starts in the absence of big names in the middle order, Buttler could be their ideal opener.

Glenn Maxwell is back at PBKS for the third time. In his first season for them, in 2014, he was the third-highest run-getter in the league with 552 runs at a strike rate of 187.75. In 2020, his last season with PBKS, he could manage only 108 runs in 11 innings and could not hit even one six. This time, he is coming off a successful BBL with Melbourne Stars: 325 runs at an average of 54.16 and a strike rate of 186.78. PBKS will hope he continues in the same vein.

Key stats

  • Gill has 1079 runs in T20s at the Narendra Modi Stadium, at an average of 71.93 and a strike rate of 163.23.
  • Earlier this year, Kagiso Rabada and Rashid Khan were the joint-highest wicket-takers in MI Cape Town’s successful run to the SA20 title.
  • Inglis strikes at 149.09 against fast bowlers and 145.74 against spin.
  • Only Jasprit Bumrah (6.06) and Matheesha Pathirana (8.12) had better death-overs economy rates than Rashid (8.94) and Chahal (9.00) in the last two IPL seasons (minimum ten overs in that phase).

Pitch and conditions

It’s difficult to predict how the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium will play. Last season, Titans were bowled out for 89 against Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad managed only 159 and 162 in their two outings. But the venue also saw Titans posting three totals of 199 or more, two of which were chased down, once by PBKS. In all, chasing teams won six of the eight games played in Ahmedabad in IPL 2024.

Next three fixtures

Titans’ next game is also at home, against Mumbai Indians on Saturday. After that, they will play two away games, against Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

PBKS’ schedule is the other way round. They will first play Lucknow Super Giants in Lucknow before hosting Rajasthan Royals and Chennai Super Kings in Mullanpur.

Hemant Brar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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