Former Indian Test opener Aakash Chopra feels Punjab Kings will face combination issues if Australian duo of Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis don’t return for the remainder of IPL 2025.
Marcus Stoinis, Aaron Hardie and Jos Inglis have not yet confirmed their participation in the remainder of the tournament to the PBKS management. However, it has been reported that the trio will be back after their match against Rajasthan Royals on Sunday.
“Josh Inglis and Marcus Stoinis’ return is hanging in the balance as of now. If both don’t come, there will be slight problems in the combination. However, I am still keeping my fingers crossed for Punjab that all things continue to go fine when the season is going good this year,” Aakash Chopra said on his YouTube Channel.
“They had two home games and one away match left. They had home games against Delhi and Mumbai, and the away match was against Rajasthan. Jaipur has been made their new home. They had to play a game against Rajasthan there in any case, but the Delhi and Mumbai matches will also be in Jaipur and not in Chandigarh or Dharamsala,” Chopra observed.
The renowned commentator said the Jaipur pitch might not suit Punjab Kings.
“The pitch there might trouble them slightly. It’s not a pitch this team would like where the ball comes nicely onto the bat. The ball stays slightly low here, and it’s not that good for batting. Only Vaibhav Suryavanshi hit a lot. In fact, a lot of runs were scored in that match, but we have seen many times that the ball skids and stays low there. Not ideal for them,” he added.
On the other hand, former KKR batter said the Jaipur track will be of Mumbai Indians’ liking.
“Mumbai’s match against Punjab was supposed to be played in Dharamsala. Now that will be played in Jaipur. I think it will suit Mumbai because Mumbai’s bowling is exceptional, and they beat RR very one-sidedly when they went to that ground recently. So they won’t mind. It might not be a bat vs bat contest, and too many runs might not be scored,” he said.
PBKS will take on RR on Sunday in a day-game on Sunday.
