The upcoming edition of the (IPL) is all set to kick off from March 28. So far, the schedule of only first 20 matches has been released due to state elections.
Ahead of the tournament, Punjab Kings (PBKS) acquired the services of Liam Livingstone for Rs 13 crore. The right-handed batsman has not played for England since the Champions Trophy 2025 due to poor form.
Considering the amount he is receiving in the cash-rich league, former Team India cricketer feels that the Englishman is receiving a lot of money, despite not delivering big performances in the previous two or three years.
“I am thinking about Liam Livingstone. He was talking about the lack of communication in the England setup, and that he did not get the same kind of response and messages, and all of that. He has been sold for a lot of money, but let`s be honest, the figures are slightly inflated because he has not performed anything like that in the last two or three years to get this much money,” he said on his YouTube channel.
The former cricketer also backed Livingstone by stating that this is his chance to make a difference in the IPL 2026.
“He would not have gotten so much money had it not been a supply-and-demand issue, but now that he is there, he will get a chance to play, make a difference. This is your opportunity, ” said Chopra.
The first match of the tournament is scheduled to be played between the defending champions, Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.
Punjab will begin their IPL 2026 campaign by playing a clash against Gujarat Titans (GT) on March 31 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh.
IPL 2026, Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans: Full Squads
Punjab Kings: Marcus Stoinis, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shashank Singh, Praveen Dubey, Lockie Ferguson, Shreyas Iyer (C), Ben Dwarshuis, Vishnu Vinod (WK), Xavier Bartlett, Yash Thakur, Azmatullah Omarzai, Vyshak Vijay Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Marco Jansen, Nehal Wadhera, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Harpreet Brar, Priyansh Arya, Suryansh Shedge, Cooper Conolly, Mitchell Owen, Pyla Avinash, Harnoor Singh, Musheer Khan, Vishal Nishad.
Gujarat Titans: Ishant Sharma, Jos Buttler (WK), Jason Holder, Jayant Yadav, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Tewatia, Luke Wood, Shahrukh Khan, Glenn Phillips, Prasidh Krishna, Rashid Khan, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar, Sai Kishore, Shubman Gill (C), Tom Banton (WK), Yarra Raj, Anuj Rawat, Sai Sudharsan, Manav Suthar, Kumar Kushagra (WK), Arshad Khan, Nishant Sandhu, Gurnoor Brar, Ashok Sharma.