Follow UsThe Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Chandigarh is set to host the home games for Punjab Kings for the second time. The venue will be hosting four of the seven home games of PBKS, against Rajasthan Royals, Chennai Super Kings, Kolkata Knight Riders and Royal Challengers Bengaluru. The venue hosted five games in IPL 2024 with Punjab managing to win only one. They will hope to better their record this time around with a revamped franchise which has had a great start, winning their first two games.
A total of 28 T20s have been played at this venue with teams opting to bowl in 19 instances but only winning in 12 of those. In IPL 2024, teams won chasing in three of the five games. The rest two saw teams batting first winning with single digit margins.
Spinners are very economical at this venue going at less than seven runs/over. Yuzvendra Chahal will be expected to utilize this assistance and make a massive impact in these four games. Both bowling types strike at almost the same rate with pacers taking nearly 200 wickets compared to spinners taking 150 wickets.
In IPL 2024, pacers went for 9.1 runs per over but managed to take wicket every 13-14 balls. Among spinners, the left arm spinners did not impress as they managed just seven wickets in nine games averaging over 30 runs per wicket.
During the previous edition of IPL, batters took time to score in the powerplay and middle overs scoring less than eight runs per over. The complete acceleration came in the final five overs as they scored at 11.1 runs per over losing wickets every 4th delivery.
Pacers bowled the most overs in powerplay in IPL 2024 and took all the wickets in this phase. Spinners came to the party in the middle overs bowling the most in that phase. But, the pacers made more impact taking quick wickets at a bowling SR of 16.3. In the slog overs, batters went hammer and tongs, resulting in regular fall of wickets for pacers who struck at 8.7, even though they were expensive, going for 11.4 runs per over.
The bowlers have had a good time at Chandigarh in IPL as they have taken 79 wickets in 10 innings maintaining a good economy of 8.5. The bowling average of 21.2 is the best at a venue in IPL over the last two seasons.
Powerplay is surprisingly a great phase for the bowlers in Chandigarh as the economy (7.6) is the best among all venues. They also have managed 17 wickets, averaging 26.7, far better than any other venue in this phase of play.
Batters have been conservative and struggled to score runs in the powerplay and middle overs, but they have smashed the bowlers in the slog overs, evidenced by the peak in their economy rates, which jumps to 11.1. But, the wickets have also fallen at regular intervals. In fact, a wicket has been taken every 9th delivery in this phase, making it the best bowling SR in slog overs at a venue in IPL since last year.