IPL Boundary Blackjack - Round 1, Match 4 - PBKS v GT
2025 was very much the year of the underachievers with RCB finally winning their first IPL title and Punjab Kings finally returning to the playoffs after an 11 year hiatus.
Then as was the case back in 2014, they came agonisingly close to winning the whole thing. The primary aim now for this side will be to ensure that they don't wait another decade to get themselves back into the later stages of the competition.
Broadly speaking they've kept with the same squad that delivered them that success. The uncapped pair of Prabhsimran and Priyansh Arya were able to consistently start the innings well for PBKS last season. With Arya there is the challenge of "the 2nd season syndrome" to overcome with the IPL's bowlers and coaches now fully aware of his capabilities and weaknesses.
Shreyas Iyer provides that quality and leadership and has developed a reputation as a T20 captain who can make an immediate impact on any squad. With all of that responsibility, it's importatant that the other Kings batters ensure they do some of the heavy lifting as well (as they did last season).
PBKS had 3 Aussie batters at their disposal last season but have retained just 1 in Mitch Owen. He is joined by Cooper Connolly who can bat in the middle order and bowl his leg-spin. Otherwise, PBKS will be looking for young, unproven talent to bolster their middle order this season.
There is further Aussie firepower in Marcus Stoinis who has become a useful finisher in the IPL over recent seasons. He can bowl a few handy overs too but their primary all-rounders will continue to be Marco Jansen and Azmatullah Omarzai. Shashank Singh also adds some big hitting down the order. If the top order can continue to deliver the platforms, there is enough depth in this PBKS side to continue to put runs on the board.
Bowling wise, Chahal continues to be a key player for this PBKS team. In helpful conditions, he was ably supported by Harpreet Brar's left-arm spin.
In fact PBKS do like a left-armer. Alongside the aforementioned Jansen, the leader of their attack will be Arshdeep Singh who can impact the game at both ends of the innings.
It'll then be a case of picking and choosing amongst the rest of their bowling stocks depending on conditions. Lockie Ferguson, Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur and Vijaykumar Vyshak all played a role last season albeit they were in and out of the XI. PBKS have added Ben Dwarshuis to their ranks for even greater options in that regard.
With the margins at this level so small, you could see this season going either way for the Kings. I do think they lack options in their batting should they pick up injuries or loss of form. They may also be found out towards the back end of innings with their bowling attack.
Gujarat Titans have broadly kept faith with the same squad that got them to the playoffs last season and that's no great surprise. The 'think tank' at GT has a very clear plan of how they want to win matches in this tournament and they bring in players who can deliver just that.
Their top 3 are all capable of dominating innings from start to finish. Gill and Sai Sudharsan weren't part of India's World Cup squad but that might serve them well later in the tournament. Jos Buttler had a miserable time of it for England and will probably be glad to change the red of his national side for the slate coloured kit of the Titans.
Many sides bring in overseas talent to do the heavy hitting at the back end of innings and while GT are likely to have either Glenn Phillips or Tom Banton in their team they also have the luxury of a couple of domestic finishers in Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan who can give their batting both power and depth.
With the ball, they appear to have all aspects covered and perhaps most importantly they have wicket takers throughout the innnings.
Rashid Khan, Sai Kishore and Washington Sundar can exploit any match-up on any ground where required.
In home conditions in particular, it might not be necessary to play all 3 spin options and GT are well stocked with quick bowlers who will enjoy some of the bouncier (by Indian standards) tracks that they'll get at Ahmedabad. Rabada, Siraj and Prasidh Krishna are all capable white ball operators who can equally switch to 'top of off' when the conditions are in their favour.
The depth to their bowling stocks is also particularly impressive. Luke Wood, Arshad Khan and Khejroliya will be jostling for position as the top left-arm option. Jason Holder offers them something different with his height and variations not to mention his long handle hitting at the death while the ever green Ishant Sharma will be keen to add to his 117 appearances in 19 years of IPL cricket.
You can get GT at odds as long as 11/1 to win the IPL outright or 6/4 for a top 4 finish. I think those are both very generous given that we're talking about the most consistent team of the last 4 seasons. While they might not be the most entertaining of teams, they are ruthlessly efficient and incredibly effective in this format of the game.
The MY Singh is relatively new venue with just 2 seasons of IPL matches having taken place at the ground. As is so often the case with a new stadium, the pitch can be a bit unpredictable!
The stats above show that boundary hitting at this venue is far lower than most used in the IPL. However, you can also see the variety in scoring in even the most recent games. The 61 boundaries scored came in the play-offs when GT lost out to MI who hit 228 in their first innings. 5 of the 9 matches prior to that hadn't even passed the 40 boundary mark.
This feels like a tougher one to call for competitors in the IPL Boundary Blackjack contest!