IPL 2024: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today's LSG vs PBKS match
We have had a mad week in IPL 2024. The quality of cricket has been decent throughout and even one-sided games have had a nice thrill and excitement about them. On Saturday, March 30, the first non-double-header weekend, we have Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) hosting Punjab Kings (PBKS) in a quite unpredictable game.
PBKS seems to have all most bases covered but thanks to their death-bowling woes and a lack of tactical shrewdness seen in other teams, they are coming off a big win and a big loss. LSG, too, after their 20-run defeat to perhaps the league's smartest team in Rajasthan Royals, look kind of an unsolved puzzle.
Considering the history of the Ekana Stadium and the situation both teams are in, we have tried to pick three bowlers who can dominate the evening proceedings:
#3 Harpreet Brar
PBKS' left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar finally looks to be coming to his own in the IPL. His performance against Royal Challengers Bangalore - 2/13 in four overs with wickets of Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar was a masterclass on bowling on sluggish T20 wickets - didn't look like a one-off special against his favorite team.
He'll get another such sluggish wicket in Lucknow with longer boundaries to support his cause. LSG batters weren't tested for a left-arm spin against Rajasthan Royals' but their middle order looked a tad unsettled and dependent on KL Rahul and Nicholas Pooran.
Brar's major hurdle could be Quinton de Kock at the top but other than that, we can expect him to have a good, high-output game.
#2 Harshal Patel
Thanks to his high-risk bowling style and PBKS' trust in him to bowl the most difficult overs, Harshal becomes an easy target of trolls whenever he concedes some runs. But watch RCB's match against Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) at the Chinnaswamy and you'll know how much they miss him.
Harshal can extract the maximum out of a slow, gripping track with his assortment of cutters. He hasn't been able to land his yorkers perfectly yet in IPL 2024 but once that starts, he would become even more lethal. LSG's mostly untested lower order which didn't quite gel well last season either, would have an uphill task facing him.
#1 Ravi Bishnoi
LSG's lead leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi is their biggest weapon at home. The India T20 World Cup hopeful has nine wickets in seven IPL matches at the Ekana at a brilliant average of 17.89. The grip off the surface suits his quicker version of leg-spin perfectly and his speed variations plus bounce bamboozles batters.
Because Jonny Bairstow is out of form PBKS don't have anyone to help them blast spinners out of the park, except Jitesh Sharma. Even in their last match, Sam Curran and Liam Livingstone got caught up against RCB's Mayank Dagar and Glenn Maxwell in the middle overs and ended up giving two wickets to the latter.
This could be the match where Bishnoi truly starts his race for the IPL 2024 Purple Cap.