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Punjab Kings won the toss and elected to bowl first against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in Mullanpur in Match 16 of IPL 2026.

Shreyas Iyer's side come into this fixture unbeaten this season and looking every bit like one of the genuine surprise packages of the early tournament, while SRH arrive needing to arrest a slide that has seen them win just one of their three games so far despite having arguably the most explosive batting lineup in the competition.

PBKS vs SRH: Sunrisers Hyderabad drop Livingstone and Unadkat

The headline team news from the SRH camp is the decision to drop both Liam Livingstone and Jaydev Unadkat from their XI, with two changes confirmed by Ishan Kishan at the toss. Salil Arora comes in for Livingstone while Praful Hinge makes his IPL debut in place of Unadkat.

It is a selection that raises eyebrows given Livingstone's all-round value and Unadkat's experience, but Kishan indicated the team is backing their younger bowlers to execute their plans and the inclusion of a debutant in Hinge suggests SRH are willing to give fresh faces an opportunity when the squad allows for it.

Kishan also addressed the continued absence of Pat Cummins, acknowledging it is a big disadvantage for any team to lose a bowler of that quality and experience, but expressing confidence that the young side can compensate through execution and intent.

PBKS vs SRH: Wadhera on bench for PBKS

Punjab Kings have been the story of the early season. Two wins from two completed games with a no result against KKR in between, Cooper Connolly's starring role in a thrilling three-wicket win over Gujarat Titans, then Priyansh Arya's explosive chase at Chepauk against CSK, and a calm assurance about their batting lineup that has made them look far more settled than most predicted.

Shreyas Iyer has been the steadying force in the middle order and the opening pair of Arya and Prabhsimran Singh has given them the kind of powerplay foundation that any T20 captain dreams of.

Also READ: Why RCB's loss to RR might be a good sign for their title hopes

PBKS vs SRH: Playing XIs And Impact Players

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

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

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

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