Dharamsala, 3 May

Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant’s woeful form with the bat and Punjab Kings captain Shreyas Iyer’s sublime touch have made Sunday’s mid-table clash an engrossing contest—one that could decisively shape the fortunes of either side as the IPL enters its business end.

Iyer’s understanding of game situations and his evolution as a captain, without compromising on his batting, have served PBKS well. In their last game, the PBKS captain struck his fourth half-century of the season, helping his side to a creditable fourth spot on the table with 13 points from 10 games.

Pant, on the other hand, has endured a disappointing run with the bat, registering six single-digit scores for a total of 110 runs in 10 matches. His only noteworthy knock this season has been a 63 against Chennai Super Kings.

Pant’s poor form has placed his side in a virtual must-win situation against PBKS, with LSG currently sixth on the table with 10 points.

Iyer, who played a key role in Kolkata Knight Riders' title-winning campaign last season but was released before the mega auction, was snapped up by PBKS for a staggering Rs 26.75 crore. Since then, he has made an immediate impact with sharp tactical leadership.

Once vulnerable against the short ball, Iyer has made notable technical adjustments to overcome that long-standing weakness.

With all-rounder Glenn Maxwell ruled out of the remainder of the tournament due to a fractured finger, Iyer will have to find a suitable replacement—something easier said than done.

Iyer could turn to Azmatullah Omarzai, the yet-to-feature Aaron Hardie, or even Xavier Bartlett, depending on conditions.

In the batting department, opener Prabhsimran Singh’s recent exploits have been the stuff of dreams. More confident than ever, the 25-year-old became the first uncapped player in IPL history to cross 1100 runs when PBKS defeated CSK in their previous outing.

With a well-set top and middle order featuring Priyansh Arya, Nehal Wadhera, and Shashank Singh, PBKS's batting looks solid.

On the bowling front, PBKS will be buoyed by Yuzvendra Chahal’s return to form. The leg-spinner relied on instinct and subtle variations on a gripping surface to claim a hat-trick against CSK in their last match.

A well-rested LSG will look to reboot their season after a week-long break —their last match was on April 27 in Mumbai.

While the return of pacer Mayank Yadav after a long injury layoff was a positive, they were still handed a 54-run thrashing by Mumbai Indians, exposing flaws in a batting unit packed with power-hitters like Mitchell Marsh, Aiden Markram, Nicholas Pooran, and David Miller.

Pooran (377 runs), Marsh (344), and Markram (326) have often formed the bedrock of LSG's batting success, and their performance on Sunday will be key to the team’s prospects.

While Avesh Khan has been consistent, Mayank’s return adds pace to the attack. Though bowling in the 140 kmph range — slightly below his earlier highs of 150-155 — he made an impact against MI with two wickets, a performance that should boost his confidence ahead of the PBKS clash.

Teams (from):

Lucknow Super Giants: Rishabh Pant (c & wk), David Miller, Aiden Markram, Aryan Juyal, Himmat Singh, Matthew Breetzke, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Mitchell Marsh, Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmad, Yuvraj Chaudhary, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Arshin Kulkarni, Ayush Badoni, Shardul Thakur, Avesh Khan, Akash Deep, Manimaran Siddharth, Digvesh Singh, Akash Singh, Shamar Joseph, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi.

Punjab Kings: Shreyas Iyer (c), Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Vyshak Vijaykumar, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Josh Inglis, Xavier Bartlett, Kuldeep Sen, Pyla Avinash, Suryansh Shedge, Musheer Khan, Harnoor Pannu, Aaron Hardie, Priyansh Arya, Azmatullah Omarzai.

Match starts at 7:30 pm IST.