Punjab Kings qualified for the TATA IPL final after 11 years last season and will be eager to finally lift the title this year. Speaking on JioHotstar’s ‘Game Plan – Know Your Team’, JioStar experts Irfan Pathan and Sanjay Bangar discussed PBKS’s strengths, captain Shreyas Iyer’s potential chance of getting a spot in the Indian T20I team and Harpreet Brar’s importance in the team as a second player.
Talking about JioHotstar’s ‘Game Plan: Know Your Team’, JioStar expert Irfan Pathan was confident that Captain Shreyas Iyer would replicate his TATA IPL 2025 form for Punjab Kings:
“I am not sure that Shreyas Iyer is thinking of using the IPL as a stage to prove himself and return to the T20I team. Shreyas Iyer is a proven cricketer. He has done very well in T20 cricket for Punjab Kings, yes, a different franchise, and he has also done very well for the Indian team. He is a very important player in one-day cricket as far as the Indian team is concerned. I think there is a place for him in the T20 set-up for the Indian team and he is aware of that. That qualifying knock against Mumbai, I still remember that shot against Bumrah, sliding towards third man with so much time. I am very excited to see if he can replicate the same performance this season as well.
On the team combination and strengths of Punjab Kings:
“If I look at this team, it’s pretty much sorted. With Shreyas Iyer, Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya, the top order is sorted, followed by Nehal Wadhera and Shashank Singh. Those guys just pick themselves, and then Stoinis’ finishing ability will also be required. After that, they are trying to rely on Mitch Owen, who is actually a powerhouse. If it clicks, pick the fast bowlers and the rest of the line-up won’t. “It will be difficult. “My eyes will be on the fast bowlers in this team, Arshdeep, Marco Jansen and Ferguson, they have good backups too.”
Speaking on JioHotstar’s ‘Game Plan: Know Your Team’, JioStar expert Sanjay Bangar touched on the importance of Punjab Kings’ opening pair:
“Prabhsimran Singh has been around for several years now. He also has a hundred in the IPL, a couple of seasons ago, and has been playing regularly for Punjab. Punjab have persisted with him. He was also one of their holdovers as an uncapped player. So I don’t think the second season blues are there for Prabhsimran. But Priyansh Arya, what a find he was for Punjab Kings. It was his batting that ensured that Punjab never looked to use their top-order foreign batsman, and that is the reason why I think There might be a bit of mystery around how Priyansh Arya copes with these expectations because, so far in domestic cricket, I think he will have a quiet season. We will have to see how he starts the season really well, then I don’t think it will be a problem, but if he has a run of low scores, then there might be some doubt about that opening combination.
On Harpreet Brar’s important role in the wheel, Sanjay said:
“I don’t think there is pressure on Yuzi as such because he bowls in the middle. They have released Glenn Maxwell who gave them important overs in the powerplay. So who is going to be the powerplay spinner? That is where I think Harpreet Brar is a quality player. Don’t play him just for matchups because, when I was part of that set-up, I had tremendous confidence in his abilities. Every time he was given the ball for Punjab, he did the same thing. I have also seen it when he played against RCB From RCB’s point of view, I always rated him very, very well as a right-hander or a left-hander, so playing with Harpreet Brar, maybe as an impact player, but playing with him in every match.”