Why is Liam Livingstone not playing today's GT vs PBKS IPL 2024 clash?

Punjab Kings (PBKS) star all-rounder Liam Livingstone has been ruled out of their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 game against Gujarat Titans 9GT) at Narendra Modi Stadium on Thursday (April 4).

Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza replaced the injured Livingstone in the playing XI. The latter apparently sustained a hamstring injury while fielding during their last game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), where they lost by 21 runs.

At the toss, skipper Shikhar Dhawan said:

"Livi goes out and Sikandar Raza comes into the side."

With the bat, Livingstone scored 38*, 17, and 28* against Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, and the Super Giants, respectively. The England all-rounder was retained by the franchise for INR 11.5 crore ahead of the 2024 season.

Raza, though, is a like-to-like replacement for PBKS. The 37-year-old has scored 139 runs and scalped three wickets in seven IPL games for the franchise last year.

Shikhar Dhawan-led PBKS opt to bowl vs GT in IPL 2024

Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and elected to field first against Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024 on Thursday. He said:

"We are gonna bowl first, I feel it's a good wicket and it will stay the same, we will prefer chasing. In some of the games, the score has been very high but it's not going to be that way every game because the teams are very good."

Dhawan continued:

"I think we are playing decent cricket, it's early days in the tournament, we are going to play better."

Meanwhile, Kane Williamson made it to the GT playing XI as David Miller missed out due to a niggle.

Punjab are currently placed seventh in the points table, managing a solitary win in three games. On the other hand, Gujarat have won two out of their first three games. They beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets at the venue in their previous IPL game.

Follow the GT vs PBKS IPL 2024 live score and updates here.

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