The Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Gujarat Titans (GT) have commenced their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 season. The two sides face off in New Chandigarh, with Shreyas Iyer winning the toss and opting to bowl first. The PBKS captain confirmed that Cooper Connolly will come into the team, with reports previously suggesting that he’ll bat at number three.
Ashok Sharma set for IPL debut
Meanwhile, GT captain Shubman Gill confirmed that Ashon Sharma will make his IPL debut. The 23-year-old hasn’t played a match despite getting picked by the Rajasthan Royals and the Kolkata Knight Riders in the past and is known to bowl over 145 km/h consistently. Jason Holder has been benched, with Kagiso Rabada and Glenn Phillips picked over him.
One of the surprising things was that Sai Kishore hasn’t even been included in the impact subs list. Perhaps Kishore is injured because last year, he was Gujarat’s second-highest wicket-taker. Glenn Phillips also returns to the IPL, having last played in 2023. Last year, an injury ruled him out, but now he’ll finally make his GT debut.
As for PBKS, the only real change for them is Connolly and even that was already reported. Spin probably won’t play a big part here since Priyansh Arya has been picked in the subs, which means Harpreet Brar won’t play.
IPL 2026, Match 4: Playing XIs
Punjab Kings: Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Cooper Connolly✈️, Shreyas Iyer (c), Nehal Wadhera Marcus Stoinis✈️, Shashank Singh, Marco Jansen✈️, Xavier Bartlett✈️, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Vijaykumar Vyshak
Impact Subs: Priyansh Arya, Harpreet Brar, Praveen Dubey, Vishnu Vinod, Suryansh Shedge
Gujarat Titans: Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Jos Buttler (wk)✈️, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips✈️, M Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan✈️, Kagiso Rabada✈️, Ashok Sharma, Mohammed Siraj
Impact Subs: Prasidh Krishna, Jason Holder, Jayant Yadav, Manav Suthar, Kumar Kushagra
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PBKS vs GT, Playing XIs: Ashok Sharma to make his IPL debut, Glenn Phillips chosen over Jason Holder
