Punjab Kings ‘Determined’ To Improve In IPL 2024 From Last Season, Says All-Rounder Liam Livingstone

Mohali: Punjab Kings are determined to put up an improved display from the previous season, said all-rounder Liam Livingstone ahead of their IPL 2024 opener against Delhi Capitals at the new PCA Stadium in, Mullanpur, Mohali. In IPL 2023, Punjab Kings finished eighth with just six wins from 14 matches. While Shikhar Dhawan will continue to lead the side, wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma will don the vice-captain’s hat for the season.

“It’s a new stadium. We’ve had 5-6 training sessions to get used to the conditions here. We retained most of our players from last season and everyone’s excited for the challenges that lie ahead of us,” Livingstone said during the pre-match press conference.

Live several other big teams, Punjab Kings are yet to win a title in 16 seasons so far. Their best finish came in 2014, when Punjab Kings (then Kings XI Punjab) lost to Kolkata Knight Riders in the final at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

In IPL 2023, Punjab Kings were in the race for playoffs until the last couple of league games but slipped at the last moment. “We did a lot of good things last season. We were in the running for a playoffs spot until the last couple of games. We’ve got a really good squad and the team environment is great. We’ll certainly look to improve our performance this season,” he added.

The Englishman further expressed, “We’ll be looking to have a lot of fun and enjoy ourselves on the park and step up in the big moments. We should deal with the pressure moments well and hopefully, we’ll come up on the right side more times than not.”

When asked about the new two bouncers per over rule in the IPL, Livingstone said, “I think it’ll be good to have two bouncers available. The bowlers have complained a lot over the years that everything is in the batters’ favour, so they’ve got something in their favour now. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes.”