IPL 2024: Predicting 3 players who could pick up the most wickets in today's PBKS vs SRH match

It's a proper mid-table battle tonight in IPL 2024 as the sixth-placed Punjab Kings (PBKS) will take on the fifth-placed SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Mullanpur.

Both have lost two and won two matches. SRH's massive win over Mumbai Indians in their second match has allowed them to boast a positive net run rate. The winner of the match would challenge the Chennai Super Kings for the fourth spot.

So far, both teams' success has been mostly led by extraordinary batting performances. Their pretty decent-looking bowling attacks have been limited to supportive roles due to injuries and the kind of conditions they have bowled in.

But as we return to Mullanpur, a pitch that has increasingly been helpful for bowlers, this might change.

Below, we have predicted three bowlers who can have the best time:

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#3 Harpreet Brar

With four wickets at an average of 18.50, left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar has been in excellent form in IPL 2024 and is finally coming to his own.

Although the Mullanpur pitch has historically been pace-friendly, it had some grip and turn available for spinners in the first match PBKS played here where Brar took 1/14 in his three overs.

SRH would be a stern test for him given the number of left-handers and big-hitters they possess. However, most of their big hitters are likely to struggle more against the spinners than the pacers. Brar's career economy rate of 7.55 shows he knows how to be defensive and create pressure to help himself and his team.

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#2 Harshal Patel

Harshal Patel is one of the most trolled cricketers in recent IPL years thanks to his penchant for conceding a lot of runs in the final overs. But he's doing what has been asked of him at PBKS - take wickets in the middle overs.

In PBKS' first match in Mullanpur, he was the best bowler on the pitch with two crucial wickets of David Warner and Rishabh Pant until Abhishek Porel ruined his figures in the last over. His other wickets in the season are Virat Kohli and Sai Sudharsan and his strike rate reads at a handy 24.

If Shikhar Dhawan uses him in a similar middle-overs role, Harshal's spell against SRH's bashers would be the make-or-break moment in the game. And this could be the time for him to show that his Purple Cap days weren't a fluke.

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#1 Bhuvneshwar Kumar

Veteran seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar took his first wicket of IPL 2024 against CSK and came through with a spell of 1/28 in four overs. It was his best outing of the season and one that showed signs of him returning to his vintage form.

Like Harshal, Mullanpur's pitch would suit his style in the middle and death overs. Plus, he has positive match-ups against Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow at the top of the order and he can use the swing on offer to create early impact.

Bhuvneshwar loves playing against PBKS too. In 19 matches, he has taken 27 wickets at an average of 18.56. He has taken at least one wicket in 80 percent of matches against them and his best IPL spell of 5/19, too, came against PBKS in 2017.