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On Thursday, April 18, Punjab Kings left out Jonny Bairstow from the playing XI against Mumbai Indians in the 33rd match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. There was no apparent reason given for the exclusion of the England international, but his current form with the bat for PBKS has been far from good.
In his six matches for Punjab Kings in the IPL 2024, Jonny Bairstow scored only 96 runs at an average of 16 and a strike rate of 131.50. While the batting stats of the 34-year-old are poor, his dismissals were getting poorer match after match, which would have prompted the PBKS team management to leave him out for the clash against Mumbai Indians.
Notably, after winning the toss, the stand-in captain of Punjab Kings, Sam Curran, opted to bowl first against Mumbai Indians. He spoke about how the captain Shikhar Dhawan, is still not available for PBKS after getting ruled out of the previous match at home against Rajasthan Royals due to a shoulder injury.
Meanwhile, Hardik Pandya, the Mumbai Indians captain, spoke about how he wanted to bat first, which is why it’s a good toss to lose. He also said, “We have spoken in the group that every individual will have to commit to the team's goal. We have the same team.”