Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 11 : Ahead of the Punjab Kings (PBKS) match against the Delhi Capitals (DC), former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar said that he still backs PBKS as a finalist alongside defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) for this season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

PBKS, who have suffered a mid-season slump with a hat-trick of losses, could find an easy meal in the form of a struggling Capitals, who have endured a tough run so far with seven losses in 11 matches. With five successive losses at home, the Dharamsala venue could serve as a breath of fresh air, but on the other side is a fire-packed PBKS seeking dominance again.

Speaking on Star Sports 'Cricket Live', Gavaskar said that in PBKS' case, a "couple of losses can actually help a team reset and avoid complacency". He also said that PBKS will realise the importance of this match and would not want another defeat that would bring "self doubt".

"I would still back Punjab Kings. Sometimes, a couple of losses can actually help a team reset and avoid complacency. Delhi Capitals, on the other hand, have lost games they should have won, and that has been a recurring issue for them this season. Punjab will know how important this stage of the tournament is, and they would not want self-doubt creeping in with another defeat. I still see Punjab Kings and RCB as my finalists for this season," he said.

Squads:

Punjab Kings Squad: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Marcus Stoinis, Suryansh Shedge, Shashank Singh, Marco Jansen, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal, Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Musheer Khan, Xavier Bartlett, Mitchell Owen, Azmatullah Omarzai, Ben Dwarshuis, Praveen Dubey, Yash Thakur, Nehal Wadhera, Harnoor Singh, Pyla Avinash, Vishal Nishad

Delhi Capitals Squad: Pathum Nissanka, KL Rahul(w), Nitish Rana, Sameer Rizvi, Tristan Stubbs, Axar Patel(c), Ashutosh Sharma, Vipraj Nigam, Mitchell Starc, Lungi Ngidi, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Karun Nair, T Natarajan, Abishek Porel, David Miller, Dushmantha Chameera, Kyle Jamieson, Rehan Ahmed, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prithvi Shaw, Auqib Nabi Dar, Tripurana Vijay, Sahil Parakh, Madhav Tiwari.

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