IPL 2025: Why is Kamindu Mendis not playing in SRH vs PBKS Match 27?

SRH will witness a debutant in their playing XI, as Eshan Malinga will play against PBKS. SRH will bowl first and Malinga will get a good chance to show his skills in the biggest T20 league. The match is taking place at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.

SRH have had a bad time in IPL 2025 so far. After beating RR in their first match, SRH lost their next four matches against LSG, DC, KKR, and GT respectively. On the other hand, PBKS have three wins and a loss from their four matches in the tournament so far. A win would help PBKS to enter the top four of the Points Table.

Toss Update

Shreyas Iyer called it right at the toss and opted to bat first. Due to their aggressive approach towards batting and succeeding well as a unit in the last few games, Iyer felt batting first was the right choice for them. The PBKS skipper confirmed their team had no changes from their previous game. Cummins claimed SRH were capable of chasing any total and announced one change in their playing XI.

Eshan Malinga makes his IPL debut for SRH

Eshan Malinga has replaced Kamindu Mendis in the playing XI of SRH against PBKS. The emerging pacer has been roped in to get an extra pacer in their attack. While Kamindu did a decent job in the last few games, the SRH skipper felt the need to have a bowler who can make a difference in their bowling attack.

What did the captains say?

Shreyas Iyer, PBKS skipper, said

We are going to bat. In the last few games we have batted first, we have the ability to post good scores. We want to play some aggressive cricket, that’s our mindset at the moment. We have seen that we don’t have a fantastic record in the powerplay. We don’t have that thought at the back of our minds. Every individual in our team play their brand of cricket. We got to be top notch, need to back our instincts. We have to keep repeating that again and again. Playing with the same team.

Pat Cummins, SRH skipper, said

It’s fine. I think we can chase anything. Not an ideal start. But we are training really well. Everyone is in a good space. We have lost a few in a row, but that isn’t ideal. One change. Malinga comes in the side for Kamindu Mendis.

Playing 11s

Punjab Kings: Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh (WK), Shreyas Iyer (C), Shashank Singh, Nehal Wadhera, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Lockie Ferguson, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

Impact Substitutes: Suryansh Shedge, Praveen Dubey, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar, and Vyshak Vijaykumar

Sunrisers Hyderabad : Abhishek Sharma, Travis Head, Ishan Kishan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Heinrich Klaasen (WK), Aniket Verma, Pat Cummins (C), Harshal Patel, Mohammad Shami, Zeeshan Ansari, and Eshan Malinga

Impact Substitutes: Abhinav Manohar, Sachin Baby, Jaydev Unadkat, Rahul Chahar, and Wiaan Mulder