Former India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar was all praises for the Punjab Kings after the franchise made their way to the number 1 spot on the IPL Points table and secured a spot in the Qualifier 1 of the IPL Notably, Shreyas Iyer led PBKS had defeated the Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets on Monday which took them to 19 points on the IPL Points Table.
After the match, Gavaskar said that PBKS picked wisely at the auction and put their belief in a lot of young players. The former India batter also predicted that a new name will be written on the IPL Trophy this year, meaning that a franchise that hasn’t won the title before could win this year.
“Nobody took Punjab Kings seriously. They have also picked wisely at the auction, where they got lot of young, uncapped Indian players. They have seen them. They have seen what they have done, where they have done. There are so many of these state leagues which are happening but you cant always go by what’s happening in the state leagues. The bowling attacks may not always be good.” Gavaskar was quoted by NDTV Sports as saying.
“Even then if somebody like a Priyansh Arya hits seven sixes you know that this guy has talent. Picking the international players too. They have done it really well. Full marks to them. Really happy for them. I told you before the start of the match that a new name will be written on the trophy, well.” the former cricketer added.
Punjab Kings secure playoff berth:
Punjab Kings have played all their league stages matches now and will now next play in the Qualifier 1 on 29 May. A win in that clash will PBKS go through the final of the tournament and could mark the second successive final for Shreyas Iyer.
Notably, Iyer has already made history by being the only captain in IPL cricket to lead three different franchises to IPL Playoffs. The young batter had earlier taken Delhi Capitals to their maiden IPL Final and Kolkata Knight Riders to an IPL Trophy last year after a gap of 10 years