IPL 2023, PBKS vs GT: Hardik Pandya elects to field
Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans will battle it out in match number 18 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 season on Thursday in Mohali. After winning their first two matches, Punjab lost to Sunrisers Hyderabad. Meanwhile, holders Gujarat lost to KKR after getting off to a winning start. GT skipper Hardik Pandya has won the toss and elected to field.
Here are the two teams
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Prabhsimran Singh, Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Matthew Short, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma (wicket-keeper), Sam Curran, Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Rishi Dhawan, and Arshdeep Singh. Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya (captain), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, and Joshua Little.
Timing, TV listing, venue, and pitch details
The match, scheduled at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali, will start at 7:30pm onward. In terms of the pitch, the surface here will assist batters, and a high score is predicted. The average score batting first at this venue is 165.82. While Star Sports will telecast the match, fans can also live-stream it on JioCinema (free).
1-1 in terms of H2H record
Gujarat and Punjab have a 1-1 record in terms of the head-to-head clashes. Gujarat claimed a six-wicket win in the first meeting in IPL 2022. Punjab then won by eight wickets in the second encounter in the league stage.
A look at the key stats
Dhawan is one shy of 50 fifties in the IPL, having smacked 49 so far. Overall, he has scored 6,469 runs in the IPL at 36.13. Kagiso Rabada has 99 IPL scalps and is one short of 100. Hardik Pandya can get to 2,000 IPL runs, having scored 1,976 at 29.49. Rashid Khan has claimed 120 scalps at just 20.22.
