File photo: Punjab Kings players (ANI Image)
Punjab Kings (PBKS), last season’s runners-up, have built a high-ceiling, high-variance team stacked with all players. However, they have a noticeable gap in the middle order which has the potential to tip their balance and expose weaknesses in high-scoring matches.
Under the leadership of captain Shreyas Iyer, they will be looking to claim their maiden Indian Premier League title.Strengths: With Marcus Stoinis, Azmatullah Omarzai and Marko Janssen, PBSK can stretch their batting all the way to No. 8 without sacrificing their bowling options. In Arshdeep Singh and Marco Jansen, they have two world-class left-arm seamers who can be called upon at any point in the game. The team includes a strong core of Indians, including Iyer, Arshdeep, Yuzvendra Chahal and Prabsimran Singh.Weaknesses: Punjab lacks a high-scoring domestic opener, which may put the onus on the captain to do most of the scoring at the top of the order. Lockie Ferguson is extremely fast, but he tends to be a bit awkward. The influence of aging stars like Stoinis and Chahal remains intact, but their sustainability over a tournament as long as the World Series
IPL
It remains a question.
Opportunities: Young batsmen like Priyansh Arya can redefine Punjab’s starts in the Powerplay as pacers Musheer Khan and Suryansh Shegde can become X-factors.Threats: PBKS’s over-reliance on Iyer or Arshdeep could be the reason for the undoing. If either of them suffers from lean patches, their progression to the knockout will look uncertain. Overall, they have a squad full of options but are yet to nail down their first choice in the starting XI.