Kings XI Punjab will welcome the defending champions of the IPL, the Kolkata Knight Riders at the Punjab Cricket Association stadium in Mohali for their clash on Tuesday, April 16.
Kings XI Punjab are in bad shape at the moment after losing their last match quite comprehensively at the hands of the Rajasthan Royals.
The Kings XI Punjab do not have many expensive players in their lineup and their inability to spend on quality players now reflects on their performances on the field which is sad in a way as this is a team which has backed unknown faces ever since the inception of this tournament.
Adam Gilchrist’s failure to perform at the top of the order has caused them some problems and with inexperienced batsmen at the top of the order in the forms of Manan Vohra and Mandeep Singh, their problems are expected to continue. David Hussey has been in great form at the moment but there is only so much that he can do alone.
Their bowling is in good shape but that does not seem to be enough to stop the Knight Riders given their good form with the bat.
The Kolkata Knight Riders are back to winning ways after thrashing the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Eden Gardens and skipper Gautam Gambhir will be keen to register their first away win in this year’s tournament.
The return to form of Jacques Kallis will be a huge bonus for the Knight Riders and Eoin Morgan’s performances will also give them a big boost ahead of this match. Yusuf Pathan and Manoj Tiwary will also hope to fire given a chance.
In the bowling department, one would expect Bret Lee to return to the lineup in place of Sachithra Senanayake. Lee should have the likes of Lakshmipathy Balaji, Kallis, Rajat Bhatia and Sunil Narine for company.