IPL 2026, PBKS vs SRH 17th Match Match Preview – Prabharya vs Travishek in battle of the IPL openers
Big picture: Two devastating opening pairs face off
Punjab Kings (PBKS), unbeaten in IPL 2026, will look to continue their good start to the season, which was rudely interrupted by rain in Kolkata, when they return to New Chandigarh for a day game. But they will run into a massive challenge in the form of Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma, who have been among the most explosive opening partnerships in the last two years.Only, PBKS have a gun opening combination of their own in Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya. They may not score as quickly as their Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) counterparts, but were instrumental in PBKS’ run to the final last year. They both outscored the SRH openers in 2025, with Arya racking up 475 runs at a strike rate of 179.42 and Prabhsimran making 549 at 160.52.
Head and Abhishek failed to reprise the kind of form from 2024 in the next season, but this year, they gave a glimpse of their capacity for destruction with an 82-run opening stand in 5.4 overs against Kolkata Knight Riders.
None of the four have managed to score a half-century this season, although Prabhsimran has arguably had the best start among them with scores of 37 and 43. So there will be four prolific openers itching to get a big score on Saturday.
Key question
Team news
With the match being a day game, and conditions assisting the slower bowlers, PBKS could be tempted to bring in an extra spinner in the form of Harpreet Brar for Vijaykumar Vyshak, especially since Cooper Connolly can’t bowl.
Punjab Kings (probable): 1Priyansh Arya, 2 Prabhsimran Singh (wk), 3 Cooper Connolly, 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Nehal Wadhera, 6 Shashank Singh, 7 Marcus Stoinis, 8 Marco Jansen, 9 Xavier Bartlett, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Vijaykumar Vyshak/Harpreet Brar, 12 Yuzvendra Chahal
SRH are likely to play an unchanged team, with plenty of options in both pace and spin departments. There could, however, be a toss-up between Brydon Carse and Liam Livingstone depending on what happens at the toss and whether they have a collapse or not if they have to bat first.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (probable): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Travis Head, 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Heinrich Klaasen, 5 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 6 Liam Livingstone/Brydon Carse, 7 Aniket Verma, 8 Eshan Malinga, 9 Harshal Patel, 10 Harsh Dubey, 11 Jaydev Unadkat, 12 Shivang Kumar
Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma are a dangerous combination•AFP/Getty Images
In the spotlight: Cooper Connolly and Nitish Kumar Reddy
Cooper Connolly is the latest Australian to make an instant impact in the IPL, with a match-winning unbeaten half-century on debut against Gujarat Titans and a 22-ball 36 in his next game against Chennai Super Kings. If he can continue his good start to the season, PBKS will feel they have done a solid job in replacing Josh Inglis, who was a key part of their line-up last season.Nitish Kumar Reddy scored a fifty in his last game, helping rescue SRH after a collapse. He’s also added more pace and is now a more potent threat with the ball, which he showed in SRH’s last day game. As the next breakout Indian pace-bowling allrounder, Reddy always has eyes on him, and he and SRH will hope he can continue to be a consistent performer for his side.
Stats and trivia
- Arshdeep Singh with the new ball could be key against SRH’s top order. He’s dismissed Head twice in three innings in the IPL, with Head scoring at 137.5 against the left-arm quick. He’s also dismissed Ishan Kishan three times in six IPL games.
- Heinrich Klaasen vs Yuzvendra Chahal will be a battle to look out for. Chahal has dismissed Klaasen three times in nine T20s, but Klaasen averages 45.33 and strikes at 212.5 against the legspinner.
- Shreyas Iyer has struggled against SRH’s Indian quicks. Jaydev Unadkat has dismissed him twice in three IPL innings and Harshal Patel has dismissed the PBKS skipper three times in four innings.
Pitch and conditions
The match is expected to be played on Pitch No. 4 in New Chandigarh, which last hosted an IPL day game in 2024. Delhi Capitals had made 174 for 9 after being asked to bat in that game, and PBKS chased it down in the last over with four wickets to spare. Overall, since 2024, this pitch has an even split of teams winning after batting first and bowling first (two each). In that day game, spin was significantly tougher to score against, there was a better runs-per-wicket ratio for fast bowlers.
Next three games
Punjab Kings
April 16: Mumbai Indians, Mumbai
April 19: Lucknow Super Giants, New Chandigarh
April 25: Delhi Capitals, New Delhi
Sunrisers Hyderabad
April 13: Rajasthan Royals, Hyderabad
April 18: Chennai Super Kings, Hyderabad
April 26: Delhi Capitals, Hyderabad
Abhimanyu Bose is a sub-editor with ESPNcricinfo
