In a crucial IPL 2024 encounter, Punjab Kings (PBKS), led by stand-in skipper Sam Curran, elected to bowl first against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. PBKS’s decision to bowl first and the unchanged playing XI for both teams were key highlights of the pre-match proceedings.

CSK won five games so far and lost four as well. On the other hand, PBKS won three games so far and they lost six games as well. However, both teams will try to win the game and keep the momentum on. This is going to be an exciting match for both teams as well.

CSK’s Changes

CSK, led by Ruturaj Gaikwad, made two changes to their lineup, bringing in Shardul Thakur and Richard Gleeson for Matheesha Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande.

See Also: Mayank Yadav likely to be ruled out of IPL 2024: Reports

Richard Gleeson’s IPL Debut

At 36 years and 151 days, Richard Gleeson made his IPL debut, becoming the second-oldest debutant since 2014, adding an interesting subplot to the match.

Oldest IPL debutanats (since 2014)
36y 342d Sikander Raza
36y151d Richard Gleeson
35y 44d Imran Tahir
34y 124d Jalaj Saxena
34y 63s Keshav Maharaj

Gleeson’s inclusion as a replacement for Devon Conway, who was ruled out due to injury, showcased the depth and adaptability of CSK’s squad.

Chennai named England pacer Richard Gleeson as Devon Conway’s replacement in their squad for the remainder of IPL 2024. CSK grabbed the services of Gleeson for the base of Rs 50 Lakh. Gleeson has represented England in 6 T20Is and has 9 wickets against his name. Additionally, Gleeson has played 90 T20s and picked 101 T20 wickets.

Match Overview:

Punjab Kings have won the toss and have opted to field

Sam Curran – We’ll bowl first. Looks like a good surface, new wicket and we’re excited after that last match. An amazing stadium and an amazing crowd, we’ll have to start well and take early wickets. We’ll take the confidence from that chase of 261. It’s just about fight and determination, they’re a good team, but we need to be brave. Same team for us.

Punjab Kings (Playing XI): Jonny Bairstow, Sam Curran(c), Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Jitesh Sharma(w), Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Arshdeep Singh

Punjab Kings Impact Subs: Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone, Rishi Dhawan, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Harpreet Singh Bhatia

Ruturaj Gaikwad – We would have fielded first, but we weren’t exactly sure. Always tough defending here with a lot of dew, but the fact that we won by 78 runs (against SRH in the last match) shows a lot about the team, but we’ll be missing out Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande today. We’ll have to get there early and make a good score. Every game is important. Pathirana has a slight niggle, Deshpande isn’t well, so we’ve Shardul and Richard Gleeson makes his debut

Chennai Super Kings (Playing XI): Ajinkya Rahane, Ruturaj Gaikwad(c), Daryl Mitchell, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w), Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Richard Gleeson, Mustafizur Rahman

Chennai Super Kings Impact Subs: Sameer Rizvi, Mukesh Choudhary, Simarjeet Singh, Shaik Rasheed, Prashant Solanki