Kings XI Punjab, the most consistent team of the last season's IPL,
where they ended as runners-up, are threatening to unravel fast in IPL
2015. Their most dangerous player is going through a lean patch, their
most expensive and experienced bowler can't take a wicket, their openers
are struggling to fashion partnerships, their success story of 2014
isn't penetrative and in the last match the team benched the
middle-order lynchpin.
Shane Watson, who returned for the last game against Chennai Super Kings and scored 73 from 47 balls as opener, and things are looking even better for Rajasthan Royals. With the ball, Pravin Tambe continues to pick wickets while South Africa's Morris has broken partnerships. Faulkner has also had a say and Dhawal Kulkarni - oddly dropped for the last game - has been successful too. An unbeaten Rajasthan Royals, particularly after the eight-wicket win over CSK, know they can beat any team, and will be looking forward to adding Kings XI Punjab to their hit-list.
Probable XI: 1 Murali Vijay, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 George Bailey (capt), 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Gurkeerat Singh, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Beuran Hendricks, 10 Anureet Singh, 11 Sandeep Sharma
Probable XI: 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Shane Watson (capt), 3 Steven Smith, 4 Sanju Samson (wk), 5 Karun Nair, 6 Stuart Binny, 7 Deepak Hooda, 8 James Faulkner, 9 Chris Morris, 10 Pravin Tambe, 11 Ankit Sharma/Dhawal Kulkarni
Shane Watson, who returned for the last game against Chennai Super Kings and scored 73 from 47 balls as opener, and things are looking even better for Rajasthan Royals. With the ball, Pravin Tambe continues to pick wickets while South Africa's Morris has broken partnerships. Faulkner has also had a say and Dhawal Kulkarni - oddly dropped for the last game - has been successful too. An unbeaten Rajasthan Royals, particularly after the eight-wicket win over CSK, know they can beat any team, and will be looking forward to adding Kings XI Punjab to their hit-list.
Kings XI Punjab Team News:
Four games, one wicket, economy of 8.84. Johnson is enduring a poor IPL, and it could be time to give him time to clear his head. The only overseas pace-bowling replacement KXIP have is South African Beuran Hendricks. Shivam Sharma, Karanveer Singh or 35-year-old surprise pick Yogesh Golwarkar who hasn't played first-class cricket since 2008 are spinners of the team.Probable XI: 1 Murali Vijay, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 George Bailey (capt), 6 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 7 Gurkeerat Singh, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Beuran Hendricks, 10 Anureet Singh, 11 Sandeep Sharma
Rajasthan Royals Team News:
Considering the major changes that were made for the game against CSK all worked, there's no reason to see them making further movement. Unless the think-tank brings back in Kulkarni, in which case left-arm spinner Ankit Sharma would go back to the bench.Probable XI: 1 Ajinkya Rahane, 2 Shane Watson (capt), 3 Steven Smith, 4 Sanju Samson (wk), 5 Karun Nair, 6 Stuart Binny, 7 Deepak Hooda, 8 James Faulkner, 9 Chris Morris, 10 Pravin Tambe, 11 Ankit Sharma/Dhawal Kulkarni
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