Is Eden Gardens looking for stars? No Virat Kohli. No Rohit Sharma. Mahendra Singh Dhoni is not coming to Eden this time. If so? Who will the crowd fill the field on Friday night? A team ranked ninth in the league. If Punjab loses today, the dream of playoffs is over. Even then, Punjab captain Shikhar Dhawan, whose four-six would have been nice to see, is not playing. Netted in Eden for two days. It was thought that he might return after recovering from a shoulder injury. Where is the key! On Thursday afternoon, Punjab team’s spinning coach Sunil Joshi said, ‘Shikhar is much healthier than before. Practice has also started. But, not against KKR either. Will return to the field from the next match.
He added, ‘It is true that the absence of Shikhar is a big loss for us.’ Even so, around 8pm, the KKR fans surrounded Andre Russell’s team bus. Navadwip fans waved purple flags and blew conch shells and cheered the cricketers as usual. That familiar picture.
In fact, team KKR is playing so well this time that the fans are not looking at anyone in particular. Even today the field will be full for the KKR team. Not for Shikhar Dhawan. Punjab’s back is against the wall. Still, spinning coach Sunil’s answer is philosophical. Narine and Phil Salt are making fortunes early in every match. What is the plan to stop them?
Sunil’s short reply, ‘You will see in the match.’ Punjab spinners showed power in the last match. If so, is Punjabi spin waiting for Narine and Salt at the beginning? Of course, there is a flip side to this. KKR also have spinners like Sunil Narine, Varun Chakraborty. It again turned out to be a boomerang for Punjab.
In the meantime, questions about Mitchell Starc flew in Eden. Like the previous day, he did not hit the ball too much. Is he injured? Ramandeep Singh who came in front of the media from the KKR camp said, ‘Stark fit. Taking a little rest in practice.’ But the rate at which he is losing runs, what will happen to him? Ramandeep’s answer, ‘Don’t judge a legend like Stark by three-four matches.’
KKR vs PBKS: Starc is the only thorn in KKR, the 25 crore star did not give a hand
Will Jonny Bairstow be seen opening for Punjab today? Playing so badly that he was benched in the last match. In fact, Bairstow’s situation is similar to Starc’s. A great cricketer. But no one knows when it will burn!
Today’s Eden, however, is not willing to worry about any particular cricketer in the opposition. Even then, Eden will be full. Because KKR has become a ‘team’ this time. after many days
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