Mullanpur: Shreyas Iyer’s inspiring leadership will face its toughest test yet when Punjab Kings host an equally upbeat Royal Challengers Bengaluru in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League here on Thursday.
Having earned the cushion of a top-two finish, one can expect both teams to have a no holds barred approach knowing they will get another shot at reaching the final even if they come up short on the opening night of the playoffs.
Punjab Kings find themselves in unfamiliar territory having made the play-offs for the first time since 2014 but they are not carrying the baggage of the past in the Iyer-Ricky Ponting (head coach) era.
RCB, on the other hand, are way too familiar with heartbreaks of the knockout stages and like every season, are hoping to end their title drought. In their own words, the job is only half done for both title contenders.
The Iyer-Ponting partnership has resulted in a stellar turnaround for Punjab, who have finally cracked the consistency code after more than a decade of under-performance.
The combination has managed to get the best out of the players making them a well-oiled unit.
The opening duo of Prabhsimran Singh and rookie Priyansh Arya has laid the platform for the likes of Iyer and Josh Inglis to build.
Finisher Shashank Singh continues to improve his game with each passing season and more recently, Australian import Marcus Stoinis finding his range with the bat makes the batting look more formidable.
The concerns lie in the bowling department, especially after the departure of South African Marco Jansen, who has returned home for national duty. Arshdeep Singh has been the standout pacer for his longtime franchise, delivering in all phases of the game. Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal, who missed the last two games due to a finger injury, is expected to return for the big game
RCB have been branded as a top heavy outfit for years but that appears to be changing with the likes of Jitesh Sharma realising their potential in the middle-order. Jitesh played the best innings of his IPL career on Tuesday night and his confidence will be sky-high going into the playoffs.
It would be important from the team’s point of view that Phil Salt is at his destructive best in the powerplay and Virat Kohli keeps batting like he has been through the season, racking up fifties
with ridiculous ease.