IPL 2022, PBKS vs GT: Punjab Kings look to shed tag of inconsistency against impressive Gujarat Titans | Cricket News – Times of India

With early momentum on their side, both Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans will look to stretch their run of luck when the two sides lock horns at the Brabourne Stadium on Friday.
For Punjab, the only worry over the years has been consistency, and the trend continues in the 15th season. Having opened their campaign with a thumping five-wicket win over RCB, they surrendered meekly to KKR, but recovered quickly with a commanding 54-run victory over CSK. Gujarat, on the other hand, are yet to taste defeat.
The Hardik Pandya-led outfit opened their campaign with handsome wins over Lucknow and Delhi Capitals. Going into Friday’s contest, both sides have more or less found a core. Punjab did get desired results while opting for the lesser-known pair of Jitesh Sharma and Vaibhav Arora against CSK, before Englishman Liam Livingstone’s all-round brilliance overshadowed their contributions.

Jitesh, who was brought in as a replacement for Raj Angad Bawa, smoked three lusty sixes in his 17-ball 26, while Himachal Pradesh’s Arora tormented the likes of Robin Uthappa and Moeen Ali on debut. While most of their new recruits have justified the faith, one thing that Punjab would be looking to improve is the opening stand between Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan. With scores of 43, 16 and 33, Dhawan has got the starts and a big score may be around the corner.
Punjab will however, hope for skipper Agarwal to get his act together. Punjab’s middle-order conundrum also seems to have been solved with the addition of Bhanuka Rajapakse, Livingstone, Shahrukh Khan and Odean Smith.

The team’s bowling has been impressive so far with Kagiso Rabada and leg-spinner Rahul Chahar at the helm. Arshdeep Singh, Arora and Livingstone have also delivered the goods.
Gujarat’s major concern will be their No. 3 Vijay Shankar’s poor form with bat and ball. Against LSG and DC, Shankar found his defence being breached for scores of 13 and 4 respectively.