Indore: Kings XI Punjab would like to secure their place in the 11th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) by winning a match against Royal Challengers Bangalore in their second home ground at Holkar Stadium here today.
Punjab is at number three with 12 points in 11 matches. At the same time, out of the playoff's ranks, Bangalore is in seventh place with 8 points in so many games. Only Sunrise Hyderabad, this season, has only qualified for playoff with 18 points and now three more teams have to make a place in the playoffs.
It is difficult for the Punjab, captained by Ravichandran Ashwin, that he has lost two consecutive matches and now the pressure is going on for him to remain in the tournament. On the other hand, Bangalore, with the captain of Virat Kohli, could spoil the game of the other teams.
Punjab's batting is mostly dependent on Lokesh Rahul and Chris Gayle who have scored 537 and 332 runs respectively. However, the batting of the team in the middle is a matter of concern. In bowling, Andrew Tie and Mujib ur Rahaman have taken 20 and 14 wickets respectively. But in front of Bangalore's strong batting, the Punjab bowlers will have to sweat a lot.
Captain Kohli and AB de Villiers are doing well for Bangalore who have scored 466 and 358 runs respectively. Mandeep Singh is also doing well by scoring 245 runs. In the bowling attack, Umesh Kumar (14 wickets), Mohammad Siraj (8), Tim Southee (5) and Yuswendra Chahal (10) will face the challenge to stop the Punjab batsmen.
Teams (Possible):
Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin (captain), Akshar Patel, Yuvraj Singh, Karun Nair, Lokesh Rahul, Chris Gayle, David Miller, Aaron Finch, Marcus Stonyis, Mayank Agarwal, Ankit Rajput, Manoj Tiwary, Mohit Sharma, Mujib ur Rehman, Barindar Sharan, Andrew Tie, Akshardeep Nath, Pradeep Sahu, Mayank Dagar, Manjor Dar
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Virat Kohli (Captain), Abraham De Villiers, Sarfaraz Khan, Chris Woakes, Yuswendra Chahal, Brendon McCullum, Washington Sunder, Navdeep Saini, Quinton de Kock, Mandeep Singh, Kulwant Kheerolia, Colin De Grandshome, Umesh Yadav, Moin Ali , Manan Vohra, Aniket Choudhary, Murugun Ashwin, Mandeep Singh, Pawan Negi, Mohammad Siraj, Parthiv Patel, Anirudh Joshi, Pawan Deshpande, Tim Soutady, Corey Anderson