Published: Apr 08, 2017, 03:00 PM (IST)
Edited: Apr 09, 2017, 01:56 PM (IST)
Hello, good evening and welcome to CricketCountry’s live cricket blog and updates’ post of the fourth match in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2017, between Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS). The IPL 10 clash will be played at the Holkar Stadium in Indore, with the city making its return as one of the venues for IPL. The venue will serve as a host to the Kings XI Punjab, who will be heading into IPL 2017 having made a string of changes. KXIP will be up against a rampant Steven Smith’s Rising Pune Supergiant, who crushed Mumbai Indians (MI) in their opening match of the tournament. Opening Ceremony LIVE Streaming IPL 2017: Watch live online telecast of Indian Premier League 10 at Sony Liv
Kings XI Punjab have made a string of changes. They brought in two quality leaders in Darren Sammy and Eoin Morgan, but handed the captaincy of the side to Glenn Maxwell, their seasoned campaigner. KXIP will also be without the services of their star batsman Murali Vijay, who had been ruled out of the tournament due to an injury. Interestingly, with Vijay ruled out, Kings XI Punjab decided to bring in India pacer Ishant Sharma as his replacement. On the other hand, Rising Pune Supergiant do not have any injury concerns.
KXIP will have to be wary of Smith in particular, who has been in red-hot form and has continued to make big runs. He hammered a quickfire 54-ball 84 not out in the first match against Mumbai Indians to power his team to a 7-wicket victory. Ajinkya Rahane also showed rich form as he stroked his way to a 34-ball 60, and anchored RPS in their run-chase.
What makes Rising Pune Supergiant even more formidable is the presence of two leg-spinners. The world No. 1 bowler in limited-overs cricket, Imran Tahir, claimed 3 for 28 in the first match and there is Adam Zampa as well, who had finished as the leading wicket-taker in ODI cricket in 2016. Rising Pune Supergiant also have a terrific bowling option in Rajat Bhatia, as the senior cricketer finished with 2 for 14 in his 3 overs in the first match.
KXIP’s bowling firepower depends on the likes of Ishant, Mohit Sharma, Varun Aaron, Thangarasu Natarajan Matt Henry, Sandeep Sharma, Anureet Singh and Akshar Patel. The conundrum will however be on the selection of their four overseas players, as KXIP have the likes of Hashim Amla, Morgan, Sammy, Marcus Stoinis and David Miller.
Squads:
Kings XI Punjab: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Glenn Maxwell (c), Pardeep Sahu, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Hashim Amla, , Swapnil Singh, Manan Vohra, Mohit Sharma, Gurkeerat Singh, Akshar Patel, Nikhil Naik, Shaun Marsh, KC Cariappa, Armaan Jaffer, Matt Henry, Eoin Morgan, Darren Sammy, Rahul Tewatia, Rinku Singh, Thangarasu Natrajan.
Rising Pune Supergiant (RPS): Steven Smith (c), MS Dhoni, Ravichandran Ashwin, Mayank Agarwal, Baba Aparajith, Ankush Bains, Ankit Sharma, Rajat Bhatia, Deepak Chahar, Daniel Christian, Rahul Chahar, Ashok Dinda, Faf du Plessis, Lockie Ferguson. Usman Khawaja, Jaskaran Singh, Saurabh Kumar, Ben Stokes, Milind Tandon, Manoj Tiwary, Jaydev Unadkat, Adam Zampa, Shardul Thakur
