Former India player turned veteran commentator Aakash Chopra has said that the Punjab Kings (PBKS) have been found slightly wanting heading into their IPL 2024 clash against the Gujarat Titans (GT) as well. Although PBKS started their campaign with a win against the Delhi Capitals (DC), they faced losses to the Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their last two games as well.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, Chopra said, “Punjab haven’t played well, to be very honest. They should have won the match in Lucknow. They fell in a heap against Mayank Yadav but they were well ahead in the game. They have won one match, defeated Delhi at home. They have been on the road after that. Bangalore have won just one match and it was against you.”

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“Here Shikhar Dhawan, he has come in form. He started slowly as he hadn’t played cricket for a long time. The opposing bowlers will try to strangulate you, they are like a python, so Shikhar Dhawan will be very important there. I feel he will have a huge role and as a captain as well,” Chopra shared again.

However, Shikhar Dhawan has scored 137 runs at a good strike rate of 133.00 in three innings. He scored a 50-ball 70 against LSG but his knock went in vain as he couldn’t take the team to the finish line. Meanwhile, Aakash Chopra picked Jonny Bairstow as the second Punjab Kings player to watch out for as well.

“The second player, should I pick his partner? He was batting well in the last match. Until he hadn’t gotten out, the match was entirely in Punjab’s favor. I am going with Jonny Bairstow again. This pitch has bounce. He is someone who can take the attack to the opposition. If I have to pick a bowler, I will go once again with Arshdeep Singh. I have more expectations from Arsh because he is almost India’s leading bowler in T20 cricket. You will need someone to dismiss Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha. If you pick up those two wickets, you will turn the match in your favor,” Aakash Chopra concluded.