Shashank, Ashutosh have been outstanding: Assistant coach Haddin hails PBKS batters ahead of facing RCB

The Kings will take on Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in their forthcoming match of the IPL 2024 at the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium on Thursday.

While speaking at the pre-match press conference, Haddin said it was pleasing to see the two PBKS batters getting runs under pressure.

"I think Shashank and Ashutosh have been outstanding. They are two young players that have grown during the IPL. The most pleasing thing about those players is they've got runs under pressure. You see guys come in and then score runs. But these two have come in and scored runs in tough situations," Haddin was quoted in a release from PBKS as saying.

Talking about Punjab's previous match against Chennai Super Kings (CSK), the former Australian cricketer said it was "disappointing".

"We thought we just started to play some good cricket. Our batters started to find some good form after Kolkata and Chennai. And it was disappointing. We thought we were just starting to get some momentum back in the tournament. To lose the way we did was disappointing," he added.

The assistant coach also provided an injury update on Shikhar Dhawan and said he will be assessed soon, and then the team management will decide on his inclusion in the playing eleven.

"We go to Delhi after this game for a couple of days before we go to our next game in Guwahati. Shikhar will be assessed and then hopefully we can have some more positive news on him for the last couple of games. We will assess him when we get to Delhi. Fingers crossed," he further added.

The Punjab-based franchise are going into their upcoming match after conceding a 28-run loss against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). They are standing in eighth place on the IPL 2024 table with eighth points and have a net run rate of -0187.

Punjab Kings Squad: Prabhsimran Singh, Jonny Bairstow, Rilee Rossouw, Shashank Singh, Sam Curran (C), Jitesh Sharma (Wk), Ashutosh Sharma, Harpreet Brar, Harshal Patel, Rahul Chahar, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Tanay Thyagarajan, Vidhwath Kaverappa, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Shikhar Dhawan, Chris Woakes, Atharva Taide, Nathan Ellis, Shivam Singh, Prince Choudhary, Vishwanath Singh. (ANI)