Jaipur: Riding a wave of success after a decade of pain, a full-strength Punjab Kings will fancy their chances of securing their first top-two finish in 11 years, when they face Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League here on Saturday.
Apart from the 2014 season when they topped the league table and finished runners-up, PBKS have only made one other playoffs appearance in a competition that has been in existence for the past 18 years.
Having ended an 11-year drought, PBKS are now relishing the prospect of not just finishing in the top-two, but also enter the summit clash and then make a dash for a maiden title.
A squad that is already brimming with confidence was shored up further when their overseas quartet of Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis, Aaron Hardie and Kyle Jamieson joined their extremely talented Indian teammates in the Pink City three days ago.
All four will be available for selection as PBKS look to book a top-two finish with a win over their beleaguered opponents who were knocked out of the playoffs reckoning after a big defeat to Mumbai Indians on Wednesday. These foreign players left the team after the BCCI had to suspend the tournament for a week due to the military conflict between India and Pakistan that led to the abandonment of the match between these two teams midway through the first innings in Dharamsala on May 8.
The match was called off after 10.1 overs of play after a blackout. The PBKS think tank did well to promptly bring back their overseas contingent after the tournament’s resumption, and the squad now resembles a band of men determined to make up for the years
of disappointment.