Punjab Openers Will Play A Brave, Dynamic Brand Of Cricket: Assistant Coach Haddin

Punjab Kings assistant coach Brad Haddin has assured that his side’s openers will play a brave and explosive brand of cricket up top, taking the attack to the bowlers from the get go.

PBKS finished ninth on the table last season and were pretty uninspiring with the bat, particularly in terms of the scoring rate. In terms of the batting strike rate, they were the fourth-slowest team in IPL 2024 and also went at just 147 in the powerplay, significantly slower than the likes of SRH (186) and KKR (184).

With T20s evolving, there is a desperate need for the Kings to be far more dynamic up top.

"Last year, we saw an increase in powerplay numbers. This year, it'll increase again. From our point of view, it's giving guys an opportunity to express themselves, make sure they play brave and play what's in front of them, and not worry too much about what's happening,” Haddin said ahead of the Gujarat Titans (GT) clash, reported ESPNCricinfo.

"This is a new group, we've had a brand new auction, we've got every player that we want to play different roles. One of those is a couple of guys to play in those six overs, you'll be quite excited to see when it comes. Whoever we put up there will be exciting, they'll play a brave brand of cricket, dynamic at the top. That's what we want them to do."

PBKS opted for a hard reset ahead of the mega auction, and at the auction table, they began the restructuring by going hard after Shreyas Iyer, whom they bought for 26.75 cr. PBKS zeroed-in on Iyer as their skipper soon after, and it was no surprise, considering his CV as captain at the IPL level.

Haddin lavished praise on Iyer and asserted that he’s been inspiring the entire group.

"We've got a driven captain who has had a lot of success, not just for India but in the competition and in this form of the game," Haddin said. "From the captain down, he has brought everyone together, the staff are on the same page as the players. From that point of view, what we're seeing is a high[-quality] group being led by the standards and habits of the captain."

PBKS will open their IPL 2025 campaign against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on March 25 (Tuesday).