Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders Predictions: Both the teams are missing some key players

A new season of IPL is underway and Punjab Kings will welcome Kolkata Knight riders in the second game of the season at Punjab Cricket Association Stadium on 1st April. The teams had a pretty average IPL last time around and both of them did not make it to the playoffs. Will the situation turn this time around? Who will win and start the new season on a positive note?

Punjab Kings are led by a new captain and coach this year. On the field, Shikhar Dhawan will be handling responsibilities and off the field, Trever Bayliss will be pulling the strings. Punjab has changed this squad for the season after a disappointing season last time around. They do not have Jonny Bairstow in their ranks for the entire season due to injury. Adding salt to the wound, Rabada and Livingstone will also not be available for the first game of the season. They rely heavily on Sam Curran and have emptied their pockets to get him. Punjab has not made the playoffs since 2014 and will be hoping that the new faces will bring them joy and glory.

Shikhar Dhawan(c), Matthew Short, Prabsimran Singh, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma (wk), Shahrukh Khan, Sam Curran, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Rahul Chahar

A similar story is in Kolkata's camp as well with a new captain and new coach in the ranks. Chandrakant Pandit will be orchestrating the team from the sidelines while Nitish Rana will be handling the on-field decisions. The team had to make last-minute changes due to Shreyash Iyer getting injured. Shakib and Litton Das will be unavailable for selection as they are on national duty. Kolkata went into the auction with a small purse and was able to fetch Shardul Thakur pre-auction. The team will be looking to give their best despite the lack of personnel and get to a good start to the season.

N Jagadeesan (wk), Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Nitish Rana (c), Rinku Singh, Venkatesh Iyer, Andre Russell, Shardul Thakur, Sunil Narine, Tim Southee, Umesh Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy

We are expecting a high-scoring run-fest in this IPL venue as we have seen historically. The team will be looking to ball first as both teams are good chasers. Bowlers can get little help in the initial phases of the game. The average first innings score on this venue is 140 runs. We expect Punjab to start the season on a high with a win given the recent tweaks they have made to the team.