Published: Sep 26, 2014, 06:00 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 26, 2014, 06:00 AM (IST)
After their impressive show against Hobart Hurricanes and Barbados Tridents, a confident Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) will take on the Northern Knights (NK) in an important Group B encounter in Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) 2014. Sandipan Banerjee finds out KXIP’s likely XI for this match.
KXIP started their CLT20 2014 campaign with an impressive performances against Hobart Hurricanes and Barbados Tridents at Mohali. They played attacking cricket in both the matches and managed to win both the matches. George Bailey’s boys need just one more victory to secure their place in the semi-final. So they would like to play their regular eleven in this game. So here is KXIP’s likely XI for this match.
Virender Sehwag: After his first ball duck against the Hurricanes, Sehwag played decently against the Tridents. He will look to get some runs in this match too. Against the impressive Knights opening bowling pair of Trent Bolt and Tim Southee, Sehwag’s attacking approach will be an interesting phase of this match.
Manan Vohra: Vohra looked bit out of sorts in the first two matches. He is one of the young guns in this team who can play shots all around the wicket. In IPL 2014, he played few games towards the end but he did not fail to impress. It will be interesting to watch how he handle Bolt and Southee.
Wriddhiman Saha (wk): After two failures, the Bengal wicketkeeper will get another opportunity to bat at the top order of this team. He is one of the natural stroke maker in this side and can hurt with his quick fire 30 and 40′s at the top of the order. He will also be the man with the gloves behind the stumps.
Glenn Maxwell: KXIP’s main man with. Maxwell is arguably one of the most devastating batsmen in this form of the game. He started his CLT20 2014 campaign well with a quick fire 43. In the second game, against Ravi Rampaul, Maxwell was unlucky to caught at deep fine leg. The KXIP fans would love to see more of his attractive and attacking batsmanship.
David Miller: Miller got his form back with a 39 ball 46 against the Tridents. Along with Maxwell he is one of the back bones of this team. On his day he can be as devastating as Maxwell. He generally bats at number five in this team and plays the role of finisher in the team.
George Bailey: He is the captain of the ship. Against Hurricanes a cool and composed Bailey knock won the match for KXIP. Though he failed against the Tridents. Apart from leading the troops, batsman Bailey also plays a crucial role for this unit.
Thisara Perera: Perera stool the show with both ball and bat in the first game. It means he will again keep Mitchell Johnson out of the team. With ball in hand he shined in both the games.
Akshar Patel: Akshar is one of the emerging players of the country. His left-arm orthodox spin troubled many batsmen throughout the last IPL and in the CLT20 2014 he bowled well. Apart from ball he can useful with bat as well. His crucial 23 with bat won KXIP the match against Tridents.
Karanveer Singh: The leg spinner Karanveer is getting a consistent run with the team because of his wicket taking abilities. He can be expensive, but he can also take crucial wickets, as he did when he took the important wicket of Shoaib Malik, in the match against Hurricanes.
Anureet Singh: Anureet had a great last domestic season with railways. For KXIP also he impressed whenever he played. He can be effective with the new ball. He replaced Laxmipati Balaji in the team.
Parvinder Awana: Awana is another bowler who is getting an extended run with this Punjab team. He has taken important wickets for team in past, which earned him his place in the team.
Complete coverage of Champions League T20 (CLT20) 2014 here
(Sandipan Banerjee is a reporter at CricketCountry. Cricket has been the biggest passion for him since his childhood. So, when it came to choosing his career, he chose to turn his passion into his profession. Apart from cricket he likes mountain trekking, river rafting and photography. His twitter handle is @im_sandipan)
