Punjab Kings (PBKS) will face Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in 31st match of IPL 2025 season. The game will take place on Tuesday at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur. Currently, KKR sit in fifth place while PBKS are sixth. Therefore, this match could heavily impact the points table.

PBKS Look to Recover

PBKS began the season strong. At first, they topped the standings. However, their form has dropped recently. In their last game, Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) crushed them. As a result, PBKS now aim to bounce back.

Unfortunately, they suffered a major setback. Lockie Ferguson is injured and will miss the rest of the season. Due to this, PBKS may bring in Xavier Bartlett. Alternatively, they could pick pace-bowling all-rounders Azmatullah Omarzai or Aaron Hardie.

Glenn Maxwell will play a key role. Yet, he has been out of form. Since IPL 2024, he has scored just 86 runs in 13 innings. His average is only 6.61. In fact, he has registered five ducks during that time.

KKR Want to Keep Winning

Meanwhile, KKR enter this game with momentum. They won their last match. So far, they have six points from six games. PBKS also have six points but from five matches.

This game is special for Shreyas Iyer. He will face his old team, KKR, which he led to the title last year. Therefore, his inside knowledge could benefit PBKS.

KKR might tweak their playing XI. Anrich Nortje is available now, but he hasn’t featured yet. If they want extra pace, KKR may replace Moeen Ali with Spencer Johnson. Andre Russell could play a bigger role with the ball. Notably, he has dismissed Shreyas Iyer five times in nine innings. He has also removed Marcus Stoinis three times in five innings.

History Favors KKR

Looking at their past meetings, KKR have dominated this rivalry. They lead PBKS 21-12 in head-to-head games. Since 2020, both teams have won four matches each.

PBKS fast bowling coach James Hopes focused on spin battles. He said, “We have a lot of players in our middle order that are very good players of spin. So that becomes the match-up that we have to win tomorrow night.”

He also stressed the importance of Yuzvendra Chahal. Hopes said, “With our bowling attack, we need to get Yuzi [Yuzvendra Chahal] into the game more than we're doing.”
He added, “He bowled a very good over [against Chennai], but it's just getting him into the tournament. We're five games in and for us to win the IPL, we're going to need him.”

Weather Forecast

The weather in Mullanpur looks clear. During the day, temperatures may reach 38°C. Later at night, it could drop to around 25°C. Hence, playing conditions should remain good throughout the match.

Probable XI's

Punjab Kings (PBKS): Prabhsimran Singh (Wk), Priyansh Arya, Shreyas Iyer (C), Nehal Wadhera, Shashank Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Lockie Ferguson

Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR): Quinton de Kock (Wk), Sunil Narine, Ajinkya Rahane (C), Venkatesh Iyer, Ramandeep Singh, Angkrish Raghuvanshi, Andre Russell, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakravarthy, Vaibhav Arora