Published: Apr 10, 2016, 12:48 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 10, 2016, 01:05 PM (IST)
Kings XI Punjab and Gujarat Lions lock horns in Match No. 3 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2016 at Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali on Monday. It is Gujarat Lions’ first appearance in the T20 league as they have entered the IPL as the replacement for the one of two suspended franchises—Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals—. While the other new team of IPL is Rising Pune Supergiants that began their campaign in style with a win over the defending champions Mumbai Indians in the inaugural match of IPL 9. This contest will be led by two young skippers in Gujarat Lions’ Suresh Raina and Kings XI’s David Miller to only make the match more interesting. FULL SCORECARD: Kings XI Punjab vs Gujarat Lions, Match No. 3, IPL 2016 at Mohali
Kings XI who reached their first-ever final in 2014 finished at the bottom of the table the next season, winning just three fixtures out of their 14 matches. Despite having the likes of Miller, Glenn Maxwell, Virender Sehwag, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Murali Vijay and other talented cricketers, Punjab could not make use of full potential. Following the IPL 2016 Auction, Punjab will be without the services of their former skipper George Bailey, who was not picked up by them and went unsold. However, the player who will be missed the most is Sehwag. The former Indian cricketer announced international retirement with immediate effect towards the end of 2015 and Punjab will miss his explosions on the top of his order.
Once again prior to a Kings XI match, all eyes will be on their most destructive batsman, Maxwell. He was the major reason behind their fairy-tale campaign in 2014, that had ended with a heart-break in the final with Kolkata Knight Riders winning the trophy. It was one of the few occasions that season when Maxwell had failed to deliver with the bat. In 2015, Maxwell averaged less than 14 in 11 matches and even the likes of Akshar Patel scored more than him. Miller, Vijay and Wriddhiman Saha who scored 357, 251 and 249 in the 2015 edition of IPL will have to once again step up to so that Maxwell does have all the burden and therefore can approach scoring runs freely.
Punjab’s bowling attack has an addition with the entry of Mohit Sharma to Preity Zinta’s boys has strengthened Punjab’s poor bowling department. Mohit, who picked a total of 14 wickets in IPL 2015, has easily been one of the most trusted bowlers of MS Dhoni in CSK. Miller will have to use him well in the 20 overs along with their spearhead Johnson and other local talent Sandeep Sharma. The spin options for Kings XI come with Maxwell and Akshar.
On the other hand, Gujarat are no less a side in terms of big hitters. The likes of Raina, Brendon McCullum, James Faulkner and Aaron Finch make for a star-studded line-up for IPL 9. Dale Steyn who was not used properly by South Africa in recently concluded World T20 2016, will lead Gujarat’s pace department that also consists of Andrew Tye and Praveen Kumar. The all-rounders, Faulkner, Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja will help Gujarat have an upper hand against Punjab.
Regardless of the result, when the likes of Maxwell, Marsh and Mohit face an equally dangerous opposition consisting of McCullum, Raina, Bravo and Faulkner, fireworks are ensured at Mohali.
Kings XI Punjab: David Miller (c), Kyle Abbott, Anureet Singh, Armaan Jaffer, Farhaan Behardien, KC Cariappa, Rishi Dhawan, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, Nikhil Naik, Axar Patel, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Pradeep Sahu, Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Marcus Stoinis, Swapnil Singh, Shardul Thakur, Murali Vijay, Manan Vohra
Gujarat Lions: Suresh Raina (c), Brendon McCullum (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Aaron Finch, Dwayne Smith, Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner, Ravindra Jadeja, Amit Mishra, Pravin Tambe, Dale Steyn, Pravin Kumar, Pradeep Sangwan, Andrew Tye, Akshdeep Nath, Paras Dogra, Eklavya Dwivedi, Ishan Kishan, Shadab Jakati, Shivil Kaushik, Sarabjit Ladda, Jaydev Shah, Umang Sharma
Time: 20:00 local | 14:30 GMT
(Sakshi Gupta, a reporter with CricketCountry, is a sports fanatic whose mantra in life is “do only what you enjoy.” Her Twitter handle is @sakshi2929)
