The first phase of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 was suspended due to the Covid-19 spread. However, now it is all set to resume from September 19 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on July 25 announced the schedule of the second phase of IPL 2021. Punjab Kings ( PBKS) are currently placed sixth in the IPL 2021 points table and they are all set to resume their campaign against Rajasthan Royals in Dubai on September 21.
In the first phase of IPL 2021 Punjab Kings played 8 games, they earned a victory in 3 games and lost 5. The KL Rahul-led franchise will be looking forward to changing their fortunes in the UAE Leg of IPL 2021. Meanwhile, Punjab will play three games in Dubai, two in Sharjah, and one in Abu Dhabi in the second half.
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You know what to do as we resume our campaign from 21st September, 2021. šš#SaddaPunjab #PunjabKings #IPLSchedule #IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/TWNImaXTlI
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) July 25, 2021
Letās have a look at 3 Punjab Kings (PBKS) players who can dominate the UAE Leg of IPL 2021
Mohammed Shami
The 30-year-old Indian pacer Mohammed Shami is the leader of the Punjab Kings bowling unit. He is the most experienced bowler in PBKS and is expected to lead the bowling unit from the front. Shami is a very dangerous bowler to face as he is equally effective in powerplays and death overs. He possesses the capability to pick crucial wickets for the team at any point in time. Also, Shami will join the Punjab Franchise just after the 5-match Test series against England. So he is expected to bring a good form in his bag which will turn out to be a game-changer.
In the India leg of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 Mohammed Shami played 8 games and bagged 8 wickets at an average of 29.25 and an economy of 8.16. Meanwhile, he is expected once again to dominate the UAE leg of IPL 2021. When the last time he played in UAE Shami picked 20 wickets for his team. PBKS will be expecting a lot from Shami and the bowling performance of Punjab Kings will be heavily dependent on the star Indian pacer.
Nicholas Pooran
The swashbuckling West Indies cricketer Nicholas Pooran was a player to watch out for in Indian Premier League (IPL ) 2021. Pooran possesses extremely good power-hitting skills. He can play with a massive strike rate and take the game away from the hands of his opposition in just a couple of overs. However in IPL 2021 India leg, he failed miserably, but things are expected to change once he enters UAE. Punjab Kings will have a lot of expectations from the 25-year-old explosive batter.
In the Indian Premier League (IPL ) 2021 Nicholas Pooran was able to score only 28 runs in 7 games at an average of 4.66. During the first game, he got out on Golden Duck against Rajasthan Royals. In the second game, he got out on Silver Duck against Chennai Super Kings. Meanwhile, in the third game he scored 9 against Delhi Capitals, in the fourth game he got out on Diamond Duck against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Then he scored 19 against Kolkata Knight Riders. However, in the last game against Royal Challengers Bangalore, he got out on Bronze Duck. Despite poor run in the first phase he is expected to do good in the UAE leg as he will join IPL just after CPL, so he is expected to bring a form with him. Pooran can surely be an unstoppable force in IPL 2021 UAE leg.
KL Rahul
The captain of Punjab Kings will once again have to lead the team from the front in the second phase of IPL 2021. Notably, Rahul will be joining Punjab Kings just after the Test series against England. So he is expected to bring a good form with him which will be beneficial for Punjab. KL Rahul has been the most prolific batsman for the PBKS franchise for a long time now. The performance of Punjab will be dependent a lot on how their captain KL Rahul performs with the bat.
In the first phase of IPL 2021, Rahul was absolutely sensational. He managed to score a plethora of runs with an amazing average. Notably, KL was consistently putting runs on board, however, he didn’t get much support from others. In 7 games Rahul scored 331 runs at an average of 66.20 and was placed at number 2 in the highest run getter’s ranking. He is expected to once again shine with the bat in the UAE leg as he will be looking forward to cement his position in India’s T20 World Cup playing XI.
