Three years have passed since a Punjab outfit played in the IPL at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali. The Kings XI Punjab rebranded itself as Punjab Kings in this period, bearing minimal resemblance to its 2019 squad.
Mohali witnessed a high-scoring T20I between India and Australia in September 2022 when the visitor chased down a 208-run target. With true bounce aiding free-flowing strokes, no score is genuinely safe in Mohali, where an average first-innings winning total shoots up to 182.6.
Punjab’s batting muscles – Liam Livingstone, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Jitesh Sharma, and Shahrukh Khan – should flex well on the lively surfaces. However, an injured Jonny Bairstow’s absence will hit the composition.
The Shikhar Dhawan-led side can, however, project an all-condition pace attack. Sam Curran, the costliest IPL buy (₹18.25 crore), joins Kagiso Rabada and Arshdeep Singh to form a threat in Mohali and the two home games in Dharamsala. Punjab’s spin stocks remain lean, with specialist options limited to Rahul Chahar and Harpreet Brar. It could, therefore, occasionally fall short of its team balance in largely spin-friendly conditions in Guwahati, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Chennai, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Delhi.
| IS BINDRA STADIUM, MOHALI (5 MATCHES) | |
| Average first innings score at IS Bindra Stadium | 168 (56 matches) |
| Average first innings winning score at IS Bindra Stadium | 182.6 (24 matches) |
| % Teams winning batting first at IS Bindra Stadium | 42.85 (24 of 56 matches) |
| % Teams winning chasing at IS Bindra Stadium | 57.14 (32 of 56 matches) |
| Average Powerplay score at IS Bindra Stadium | 47.87 |
| Average death overs (17-20) score at IS Bindra Stadium | 35.92 |
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