PBKS vs RCB, Match 3 of IPL 2022: Punjab Kings Player Availability & Probable Playing XI

Punjab Kings came out of the auction room as the most efficient team earlier this year. They sure have flaws in their squad construction but the way they went about their business and the plan they had in place was magnificent. Lets take a look at their likely composition for the season opener against the mighty Royal Challengers Bangalore.

PBKS vs RCB: No Jonny Bairstow and Kagiso Rabada

Punjab Kings will be without their two first choice players for the first game – Jonny Bairstow and Kagiso Rabada.

These 2 players are surely going to be a huge loss but Punjab Kings do have an able backup for Jonny Bairstow in Bhanuka Rajapaksa. The southpaw from Sri Lanka is an underrated T20 batter. He showed his worth in the WT20 that happened in UAE. He is a high intent player and can take down spinners at will which will be expected of him as he will be slotting in at #3 in the absence of Jonny Bairstow.

The absence of Kagiso Rabada will hurt more as they really don’t have another pace spearhead in the XI. Although Odean Smith can hit 140s, he is still unproven at this level. Nathan Ellis will be unavailable till April 6 as he is a contracted player for Australia.

To cover the absence of Kagiso Rabada, Punjab can play Benny Howell and Sandeep Sharma, where they get a solid powerplay bowler in Sandeep Sharma, and an experienced T20 campaigner in Benny Howell who can add nice depth to the batting along with his wily cutters in middle overs with the ball.

Probable PBKS playing 11

Mayank Agarwal

Shikhar Dhawan

Bhanuka Rajapaksa

Liam Livingstone

Benny Howell

Shahrukh Khan

Odean Smith

Harpreet Brar

Rahul Chahar

Sandeep Sharma

Arshdeep Singh