There are teams who have the ability to become champions, there are teams full of championship winning players, and then there are teams who entertain even whilst being at the lower end of the points table, Punjab Kings has all of the above. Despite being in this position a lot of the time, Punjab Kings are considerably the most entertaining team of this IPL season.

With IPL-14 league stage matches coming to an end, this has been a most interesting phase with the teams intensely vying for the last spot in the playoffs. In between all this, we have been witnessing the most entertaining team of this IPL season, which has been the Punjab Kings.  

 

Openers are the best “Entertainers”

Openers are the heart of any team. They set the standard of the match by facing probably the toughest phase in T20 Cricket, the “powerplay overs”. They are the ones who play the maximum number of deliveries, and most of the top run-getters in T20 Cricket are openers only.

The IPL has seen so many openers succeeding and giving their team a brilliant start, a strong foundation and match winning knocks. Undoubtedly, the best set of openers among all the teams of IPL are from Punjab Kings. Captain KL Rahul set a different level of benchmark for all openers of the IPL tournament with his phenomenal performance as opening batsman.

While KL Rahul has been in stunning form as an opener since 2018, his mate Mayank Agarwal’s form in IPL 2020 and 2021 make these two the best opening pair of the competition. Even in their absence, the inclusion of Aiden Markram almost neutralizes that opening problem for Punjab. The team also has Chris Gayle who generally plays at 3, he can always be included as an opener, and hence he is an important backup for the team.

“Punjab” Kings of Super-Overs

The Super Over is something that adds excitement to even the most boring of matches and Punjab Kings are the masters of Super Overs. Till date, Punjab Kings have played 4 Super Over matches winning 3 of them. Also, Punjab Kings are the team who won the most exciting maiden double Super Over match, creating history in the IPL against Mumbai Indians in 2020.

Can defend low scoring games and chase high scoring games 

T20 cricket is always looked at as a format that involves high scoring matches with lots of fours and sixes. But Cricket is a game of uncertainty. It has also led to teams finding it difficult to even defend high totals and even a possible defense of low scoring games. As long as you have class bowlers, be it experienced or young, there is always a chance of a low scoring side ending up being the winning team. For instance, Punjab kings defended 126 runs on a sluggish Dubai wicket vs SRH in IPL 2020. In response to the 127 run target, Sunrisers Hyderabad lost their last 7 wickets for just 14 runs in the end against Punjab Kings.

Matches involving Punjab Kings tend to be nail-biting affairs, mostly hinging on the last ball of the last over. There isn’t a dull moment when Punjab plays. 

Perfect Combination of Experience and youth

Punjab Kings have 'perfect balance' of youth and experience in the squad. They had some smart buys which balanced the core of Punjab Kings and strengthened their team structure. Likewise, with KL Rahul, Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammad Shami as experienced players and Ravi Bishnoi, Harpreet Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Shahrukh khan as youngsters they all have given some spectacular performances for the team in recent times. 

The never give up attitude of the Punjab Kings, even until the last ball is something which fans loved the most about this team. Be it a match against 5-time champions Mumbai Indians who were for the most part in great form or against teams in bad form like Sunrisers Hyderabad, Punjab kings made every match a must-watch. It’s unfortunate that Punjab Kings have never been able to win a title till date. Looking at the history of Punjab Kings in the Indian Premier League, the team has played good cricket overall and some may say have deserved better. We hope this team continues to display some good and exciting Cricket for their fans and win a title soon.