Punjab Kings won the toss and elected to bowl first at Mohali against the Lucknow Super Giants on 28th April, Friday. It was good to see Shikhar Dhawan back in action as he has recovered from his shoulder injury. Punjab named a debutant in their squad at the toss. Shikhar Dhawan mentioned that a fast bowler is making his debut today. Gurnoor Brar will be playing his first match of the IPL today against the Lucknow Super Giants.
Who is Gurnoor Brar?
Brar replaced the injured Raj Angad Bawa in the Punjab side. Brar is a 6′ 5” fast-bowling all-rounder who is just 22 years old. He is a skiddy customer and can hurry the batters with his pace.
He traveled to England in 2022 with the Mumbai Indians-owned Reliance Cricket Team, where he played in a few T20 matches against Kent and Sussex. He picked up 2 for 34 against Kent Second XI while opening the bowling alongside Jaydev Unadkat. In the following match against Sussex Second XI, he was wicketless but only allowed 12 runs to be scored in two overs.
Gurnoor, who came in at nine in the Ranji Trophy 2022–23 season with his team trailing Jammu & Kashmir by 147 runs, played counter-attacking innings, hitting 64 runs off of 60, to assist his team clinch a crucial 76-run first-innings lead. The innings was significant as Punjab went on to win by four wickets.
In his few opportunities to with the bat, he has shown flashes of his power hitting. He could be a valuable addition to the lower order.
Teams:
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): KL Rahul(c), Kyle Mayers, Deepak Hooda, Marcus Stoinis, Krunal Pandya, Nicholas Pooran(w), Ayush Badoni, Naveen-ul-Haq, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan, Yash Thakur
Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Atharva Taide, Shikhar Dhawan(c), Sikandar Raza, Liam Livingstone, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma(w), Shahrukh Khan, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh
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