IPL 2024 PBKS vs DC Preview - Opportunity knocks for unfancied pair to make fast start

Key match stats

Pitch Stats – IPL records at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium

This is the first IPL or T20 international match to be played at the new stadium

Team form PBKS vs DC

Recent meetings: IPL 2023 - PBKS won by 31 runs, DC won by 15 runs

Weather

General Forecast: Dry, clear, hot
Chance of dew: Very Low

Preview PBKS vs DC

The action comes thick and fast in the IPL as we go straight into the first weekend of double headers. As well as offering a fresh start for 2 sides who struggled last year, this match sees the christening of yet another stadium, with the newly built Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur Punjab hosting its first IPL match.

To be honest it's difficult to find a huge amount of reliable data on how the pitch will play. Punjab played 1 Ranji Trophy (the domestic first class competition in India) on this pitch and were saved what looked likely to be a heavy defeat by some poor weather and bad light. This being a day time game that doesn't look likely to be an issue here and dealing with the afternoon heat will instead become an important factor.

If history tells us anything it's that pitches at new stadiums don't tend to be easy to score on and most of the wickets that did fall in that Ranji Trophy game went to seamers which suggests either uneven bounce or lateral movement. Last season the wicket at the newly built Ekana Stadium that LSG played their home games on was by far the toughest to accumulate runs on for similar reasons.

Given the uncertainty about conditions it also makes the toss very important. The last 3 matches these 2 sides have played in have been won by the team batting first and logic suggests that you should bat first in these afternoon games to prevent being fried in the outfield before having to go out and chase a score. However, on a pitch where no one really knows what a good score is the temptation will surely be to chase.

Neither of these sides had an IPL 2023 to remember and it looks likely that they'll be in for a tough season once again.

Delhi do at least get to welcome Rishabh Pant back to their side as he plays his first meaningful cricket in 18 months. Pant will skipper the team but is unlikely to keep wicket until the 2nd half of the tournament. Given their middle order woes last year, they certainly need his ball striking skills and character in the team but is it too much to expect him play a staring role this early in his recovery?

DC's preparations have also been impacted by the loss of Harry Brook and Lungi Ngidi. To date, DC have named just a single replacement for those 2 in the form of Jake Fraser-McGurk. The young Australian is certainly an exciting prospect and he made his debut for the ODI team last month. However, this will be a big step up and it does very much feel like another Ponting pick for an Aussie player who might struggle in Indian conditions.

PBKS only faired marginally better than DC in IPL 2023 but do at least appear to be heading into the 2024 tournament with a more settled side. For a variety of reasons, several of Punjab's big name stars in Rabada, Livingstone and Bairstow played only 15 matches between them last year and PBKS don't really look like they have a strong enough squad to challenge for a playoff spot without all their big guns fit and firing.

PBKS v DC head to head

DC bowling vs PBKS batting

The big question for DC will be who leads their seam bowling attack in the early stages of this year's IPL. Anrich Nortje missed the 50 over World Cup as well as the entirety of the SA20 this year but has played a couple of domestic T20 games for Warriors this month.

Bowler	Economy	Strike rate
Nortje	8.3	18.8
Richardson	9.3	20.4
Mukesh Kumar	10.0	29.8
KK Ahmed	10.2	20.8
Ishant Sharma	10.7	42.0

DC pace bowling options T20 records at the death

His bowling at the death will be particularly important for a DC side without too many specialist operators in that phase of the game.

Ishant Sharma finished last season as a key part of a struggling DC attack and claimed the key wicket of Shikhar Dhawan on both occasions that these teams met in IPL 2023. If the pitch does offer a bit of uneven bounce then there are few better bowlers to extract it than the big man.

Ishant Sharma dismissed Shikhar Dhawan twice in the powerplay last season

Shikar Dhawan's wicket is always important for PBKS but against DC's 2 left-arm spinners it will be even more so. Without him anchoring the innings then DC will feel confident that Kuldeep and Axar Patel can control the middle over phase of the game.

Axar Patel T20 head to head record against PBKS right handers

Jonny Bairstow comes fresh out of a Test match series where he and his England teammates struggled to come to grips with Kuldeep Yadav while Axar Patel has a good overall head to head record against PBKS' right handers.

PBKS bowling vs DC batting

Much like PBKS, DC are very reliant on a left-handed opener batting through the bulk of their innings for success. David Warner was left carrying the Capitals batting line-up for much of last season and so Punjab will know that getting him early would put a weak middle order under extreme pressure.

Warner vs Rabada T20 head to head

In early contests between Warner and Rabada, it was the South African who had the upper hand but in their 2 most recent IPL meetings, Warner has taken 41 runs from 18 balls without being dismissed including striking 3 x 6s and 4 x 4s. Can the fast bowler respond?

Outside of Warner who has never been dismissed by either of PBKS' frontline spinners, DC really need Rishabh Pant to hit the ground running to avoid their innings from stalling in that phase of the game as it did so often last season.

David Warner combined T20 head to head record vs Chahar, Harpreet and Harshal vs the rest of the DC team against those same bowlers

DC will face a middle overs attack comprised of Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Brar and new signing Harshal Patel who between them have done a very good job of limiting DC's current batting line-up in past encounters with the exception of Warner whose record against Chahar and Harshal in particular is excellent.

---

All stats used in this blog are from my own databases which are freely accessible below
IPL player head to head records
IPL player records by stadium
IPL stadium records.
Images are my own with the exception of player profiles and highlights within GIFs which are not intended to infringe copyright- read full disclaimer. Background images are used under a creative commons license or otherwise royalty free.