PBKS vs KKR Dream11 Prediction, IPL Fantasy Cricket Prediction for Match 2 of IPL 2023

 

Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings will lock horns in their opening match of the Indian Premier League on Saturday. While PBKS finished at 6th position in the previous edition of IPL, KKR finished at number 7.

Ahead of the match, let's look at the Dream XI of both teams for the 2nd match of

IPL 2023: Match Details

 Punjab Kings Vs Kolkata Knight Riders Match No. 2 of IPL 2023 Saturday, 3:30 PM Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali.

Probable Playing XI

Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (Captain), Shahrukh Khan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sikandar Raza, Sam Curran, Rishi Dhawan, Matthew Short, Jitesh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Rinku Singh, Nitish Rana (Captain), Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Narayan Jagadeesan, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Shardul Thakur, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Umesh Yadav.

Wicket keeper

Vidarbha wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma can be taken for the wicketkeeper. He is expected to get a chance in the absence of Johnny Bairstow. He has scored 1787 runs in 76 matches of domestic T20.

Batters

Dhawan, Nitish Rana and Rinku Singh can be selected in batting. The technique of all four batters is excellent, which will be important on the Mohali pitch.

Dhawan is an experienced batsman. Last season, Punjab scored the highest 460 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 122.66. In the Powerplay, he gives a smooth start to the team and scores big.

Nitish Rana has been continuously proving himself in IPL. He has scored 2181 runs in 91 matches of IPL. He scored 361 runs in 14 matches last season.

Rinku Singh is consistently performing brilliantly in domestic cricket. Last season, Rinku scored 174 runs in 7 matches at a strike rate of 148.72.

All rounder

Sam Karan, Venkatesh Iyer, Sikandar Raza and Andre Russell can be taken in all-rounders.

Karan: is the costliest player in the IPL auction. Whereas Russell is the game changer of IPL and can turn any match in favor of his team. Iyer is known for explosive opening. Karan has 42 wickets in 38 T20 Internationals. If needed, he can also bat in the top order and he also has a hat-trick in bowling for Punjab.

Venkatesh: Last season was nothing special for him, but this time he can do wonders. In domestic T20, he has scored 1773 runs in 80 matches at a strike rate of 134.93.

Andre Russell: T20 specialist. Scored 335 runs in 14 matches last season and also took the maximum 17 wickets for KKR.

Sikandar Raza: Has had a fantastic T20 season. Had a good performance in the World Cup. Took 223 runs and 4 wickets in 12 matches. You can do wonders in India.

Bowling

Young guns Arshdeep Singh, Tim Southee and Sunil Narine can be taken in the bowler. All three are wicket-taker bowlers and have been performing well of late.

Arshdeep: Debuted for India in 2022 and gave a great performance in the last T20 World Cup. He has 41 wickets in 26 matches of T20 International.

Southee: Known for taking wickets with the new ball. He has taken 134 wickets in 107 matches of T20 International. He took 14 wickets in 9 matches last season.

Naren: is also a T20 specialist and mystery spinner. Last season he took 9 wickets. Can also show amazing in batting with the ball.

Captain

There are many excellent options available in the form of Sam Curran, Andre Russell, Tim Southee and Nitish Rana. But it would be best to make Shikhar Dhawan the captain. He does the opening batting. At the same time, Andre Russell can be made the vice-captain.