IPL 2022: Will new skippers be mantra to victory in PBKS vs RCB

Punjab Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore will go head to head on Sunday will seek two fresh starts, with the new captains and an attempt to gain early dominance in the championship. The game, which starts at 7:30 PM IST, will be held at DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

Punjab Kings will enter the field with rookie skipper Mayank Agarwal while Royal Challengers Bangalore enter their Virat Kohli-less era, with Faf du Plessis taking charge. Both teams will their maiden Indian Premier League titles with the hope that new leadership may give them an edge.

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However, even though Virat Kohli may not be wearing the skipper band around his arm, he is likely to attract a lot of attention as fans would be excited to see him play with the responsibilities of leading. 

Glenn Maxwell is away for his marriage while Josh Hazlewood is in Pakistan with the Test side and will miss at least three IPL games.

However, the Royal Challengers still have some good options in players like Sherfane Rutherford, Finn Allen among others. A lot of focus will be on Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga and Dinesh Karthik, representing the team for the first time.

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On the other hand, the Kings will miss the services of Jonny Bairstow, who is in the West Indies with the England Test side in their first game, and also Kagiso Rabada as he has just finished his ODI engagement for South Africa against Bangladesh, according to reports from PTI.

RCB’s best performance under Kohli’s captaincy was in 2016 when the team emerged runners-up with the skipper amassing more than 900 runs with four centuries, exactly the kind of season the 33-year-old will look forward to.