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GT vs PBKS, IPL 2026: Punjab Kings have made two big changes to their playing eleven for the crucial IPL 2026 game against the Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. With Lockie Ferguson not starting his IPL 2026 campaign in the most auspicious manner, Xavier Bartlett has returned to the side. Meanwhile, pacer Vijaykumar Vyshak has also come into the eleven and will likely come in for Harpreet Brar.

GT vs PBKS, IPL 2026: Why has Lockie Ferguson been left out of the Gujarat Titans vs Punjab Kings clash?

The returning Ferguson had replaced Bartlett in the game against the Rajasthan Royals in Dharamsala but didn’t have a good outing, conceding 4-0-57-0 as the inaugural IPL champions inflicted the first defeat on the Punjab Kings. But PBKS have returned to Bartlett, who has delivered some promising performances with the new ball. At the toss on Sunday, Shreyas Iyer didn’t offer any explanation about Ferguson getting left out; hence, it’s unclear why the 34-year-old has been left out. Notably, Ferguson is not even part of the impact sub.

Punjab Kings XI: Prabhsimran Singh (wk), Priyansh Arya, Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer (c), Suryansh Shedge, Nehal Wadhera, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal.

(Impact subs: Harpreet Brar, Vishnu Vinod, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Musheer Khan, Mitch Owen)

GT vs PBKS, IPL 2026: What happened the last time Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings met?

Meanwhile, it is the second time in IPL 2026 that the Titans and Kings will go ahead against one another as the first one was played in Mullanpur. Punjab Kings had restricted the 2022 champions to 162/6 as Shubman Gill (39) and Jos Buttler (38) were the chief run-getters.

However, Cooper Connolly, making his IPL debut on the night, announced himself with an unbeaten 72 off 44 balls to guide their side over the line. Vijaykumar Vyshak had emerged as the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4-0-34-3 as Punjab Kings won by three wickets. PBKS are notably unbeaten at the Narendra Modi Stadium against the Titans.