Why Liam Livingstone not playing in PBKS vs SRH?

The Punjab Kings (PBKS) return to the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh to take on the Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 17 of the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL) season. 

With three matches into the season, the hosts are unbeaten in the league with five points under their belt. SRH, the 2016 IPL champions, are coming off a defeat at the hands of Lucknow Super Giants in their previous fixture. 

PBKS vs SRH: Toss Update

Home captain Shreyas Iyer called the coin toss correctly and opted to bowl first. The 31-year-old stated that with it being an afternoon game, his side wants to understand the conditions with chasing also being the reason behind their good form this season. Ishan Kishan, meanwhile, expressed his disappointment at missing Pat Cummins in the side while stating he also intended to bowl first.

Liam Livingstone misses out for SRH, Salil Arora comes in his place; Praful Hinge to make his debut

SRH decided to drop Liam Livingstone and bring in hard-hitting lower-order batter Salil Arora in his place. The Englishman played his first game for his new franchise last time around, where he scored 14. Arora, meanwhile, scored at a strike-rate of close to 200 in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and can be a threat in the death overs. Praful Hinge from Vidarbha is making his IPL debut.

PBKS vs SRH: What did the captains say?

Shreyas Iyer, PBKS captain:

“We’re going to bowl first. It’s a day game and obviously want to get a knack of how the wicket is going to play and a fair idea. But other than that, that’s what we’ve been doing in the last couple of games. We’ve been thriving on that. (Things to address?) I personally feel that you can’t control the nature of the weather. You’ve just got to go with the flow. And I personally feel that we don’t have to address anything at any point of time. Just back each other, back all the youngsters in the team. The more you tell them, the confusing it gets for them. So, it’s better that they live in their own nature and express themselves. No, we’re going with the same team. Actually, bowling first, Priyansh comes in for Nehal.”

Ishan Kishan, SRH captain:

“We would have loved to bowl first. But yeah, I think wicket looks pretty hard to me. And it’s about playing good cricket in the first innings. (On captaining) Obviously, it’s a big disadvantage for any team, Pat is a tremendous bowler. He gets on with an experience of his. But still, I feel we’ve got a young side, young bowlers today in the team. And hopefully, we’ll just try and execute the plans, which is the most important thing in T20 cricket. Yeah, there are two changes. Salil comes in in place of Livingstone and Praful Hinge, it’s his debut game, in place of Jaydev Unadkat.”

PBKS vs SRH: Playing XI

Punjab Kings:

Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh(w), Cooper Connolly, Shreyas Iyer(c), Shashank Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

Impact Subs: Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod, Suryansh Shedge, Yash Thakur, Harpreet Brar

Sunrisers Hyderabad:

Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan(w/c), Heinrich Klaasen, Salil Arora, Aniket Verma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harsh Dubey, Shivang Kumar, Harshal Patel, Eshan Malinga

Impact Subs: Jaydev Unadkat, Liam Livingstone, Shivam Mavi, Praful Hinge, Kamindu Mendis