Kolkata and Punjab will face each other on April 1 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. While Punjab beat Bangalore in their first game, Kolkata lost their previous game against the same opponents in a fiercely fought encounter. In this article, we will discuss three player battles that will be worth watching in Kolkata vs Punjab game.
1.Varun Chakravarthy vs Liam Livingstone
Varun Chakravarthy has been a revelation for the Kolkata team in the last couple of years. His mystery spin bowling is still a mystery for many batters in the league. The right-arm bowler can pick wickets in the middle overs and jam the run flow. On the other hand, the explosive batter from England has the ability to change the game anytime. However, he is highly untested against quality spin bowling in the Indian sub-continent. It will be interesting to see which player comes up trumps.
2. Arshdeep Singh vs Venkatesh Iyer
Both players rose to fame due to Indian T20 League. Both have been fine performers for their sides which is evident by the fact that both were retained by their respective franchises ahead of the mega auction. However, both players had an ordinary start to the 2022 season. Iyer has only scored 26 runs in the first two games while Singh could take one wicket and conceded 31 runs in Punjab’s only game against Bangalore. Iyer will be looking to be explosive at the top while Arshdeep will have the task of getting early breakthroughs.
3. Harpreet Brar vs Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer loves dominating spin bowling with his big-hitting skills. Iyer either prefers stepping out of the crease or using his long levers. However, this can go against him sometimes and no one better than Harpreet Brar can take the advantage of this. The left-arm spinner is the old school orthodox spinner who likes to beat the batter in the air. This could be a battle of cat and mouse.
