Squads –
KKR –
Eoin Morgan (Captain), Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, , Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine,Tim Southee, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Pawan Negi, Tim Seifert, Shakib al Hasan, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh
PBKS –
KL Rahul (C & WK), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Nicholas Pooran, Mandeep Singh, Sarfaraz Khan, Deepak Hooda, Prabhsimran Singh, Mohammed Shami, Chris Jordan, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Arshdeep Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ishan Porel , Dawid Malan, Jhye Richardson, Shahrukh Khan, Riley Meredith, Moises Henriques, Jalaj Saxena, Utkarsh Singh, Fabian Allen, Saurabh Kumar
Team News –
KKR –
– KKR won their last game against DC and now are in a good situation to qualify for playoffs. Andre Russell didn’t played last game due to injury and don’t think will play this too.
– Team’s likely foreign players will be Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell/Tim Southee, Sunil Narine and Lochie Ferguson.
– Shubham Gill and Venkatesh Iyer will open the Innings. Gill has been completed out of form this tournament and is unable to middle the ball. Iyer has been brilliant in the 2nd phase with both bat and bowl.
– Young Tripathi will bat at 1 down. He is a aggressive player and was brilliant in in last few games. He scored 315 runs so far this IPL.
– Captain Morgan will bat at 2 down followed by Nitish Rana. Morgan is having a disastrous IPL this year and haven’t crossed even 100 run mark in his 7 games played.
– DK will play the role of a finisher and will also keep the Wickets.
– Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine will handle the spin section. Varun is bowling in powerplay in all games.
– Tim Southee, Lochie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi/Prasidh Krishna will lead the pace attack.
PBKS –
– The Kings from punjab are very much in a situation where just one loss and the are out of the tournament , also Chris Gayle will not be a part of the team in any game now as he had left the bubble.
– Teams likely 4 foreign options will be Aiden Markram, Nicolas Pooran, Fabian Allen, Nathan Ellis.
– KL Rahul and Mayank Agrawal/Mandeep Singh will open the innings for PBKS. Rahul is amongst the top 3 scorers this IPL but is playing very defensive cricket from last few games. Mayank Agrawal if fit will directly make it into the XI.
– Aiden Markram will bat at 1 down. Markram has made good contribution in the team since he has joined. He scored 42 of 29 balls last game.
– Nicolas Pooran will bat at 2 down. Pooran is a very aggressive batsman but is going through a season where he was out on duck 4 times in 8 games.
– Deepak Hooda will hold the middle order of team. Shahrukh has emerged himself as a finisher in the domestic circuit and did good for Punjab in starting games but haven’t played any game in the 2nd half.
– Teams middle order is quite weak as they don’t have any proper batsman after this pair, however Harpreet can bat a bit.
– Ravi Bishnoi, Harpreet Brar will be the spin option in the team. Bishnoi has been brilliant after comeback innlast 2 games picking up 5 Wickets.
– Mohammed Shami, Nathan Ellis and Arshdeep Singh will lead the pace attack of team.
Probable XI –
KKR –
Shubman Gill, V Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (C), Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell/Tim Southee, Sunil Narine, Lochie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Varun Chakravarthy
PBKS –
KL Rahul(wk & C ), Mayank Agrawal/Mandeep Singh , Aiden Markram, Deepak Hooda, Nicolas Pooran, Fabian Allen, Harpreet Brar, Mohammad Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis
Pitch Report –
Dubai International Stadium, Dubai
Pitch here at Dubai offer good assistance to pacers and good scores are expected early on the tournament.
Average Score – 160
Team Blueprint –
WK –
Dinesh Karthik( Lower Middle order, RHB + wk, will be a better pick in GL)
KL Rahul( Open, RHB, highest scorer of IPL from last 2 seasons, 315 runs in 10 innings against KKR, must )
Nicolas Pooran( 2/3 down, LHB + wk, 353 runs last IPL with a SR of 169, poor form this season, can be a crusial GL pick)
BAT –
Eoin Morgan( 2 down, 418 runs last season for KKR, SR of 138 last season, very poor run this IPL still now, out on duck last game)
Mayank Agrawal( Open, RHB, very attacking, was brilliant with 424 runs in 11 innings last season, scoring at a very good rate in powerplay, injured, can miss the game)
V Iyer( Open, LHB + medium pacer, has been in top form ,126 runs + 2 wickets in last 4 games, Must have choice )
Shubham Gill( Open, Highest scorer of team last season with 440 runs, Sr was slightly on the lower side with 117, very poor form this IPL)
Aiden Markram ( 1 down, RHB + off spin, has been excellent so far this IPL, 42(29b) last game, Must have)
Mandeep Singh( open, RHB, 186 runs with a brilliant SR of 140 in syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recently, can be a good differential pick, opened in last game)
Shahrukh Khan( Middle order, RHB, SR of 236 in Syed Mushtaq trophy recently, will play as an finisher)
Sarfaraz Khan( Middle order, RHB, known for his unorthodox Batting, didn’t played a game so far )
Nitish Rana( Middle order, LHB, had a decent last season with 352 runs at a SR of 138, not getting much Batting)
Rahul Tripathi( 1 down, RHB, very attacking, 315 runs in 10 innings this season, very consistent in last few games)
ALL –
Andre Russell( Middle order, RHB + medium fast, is bowling in death, overall Batting SR of 182 in IPL, was out last game due to injury)
Sunil Narine( Off spin, mystery bowler, excellent with ball in last few games, 2 wickets + 21(10b) against DC last game )
Ben Cutting( Lower middle order, RHB + Medium pacer, 2368 runs + 128 t20 Wickets, Batting SR of 149, Must try if gets a game)
Deepak Hooda ( RHB + off spin, 3 down, had a very impressive season so far with bat and bowl, can be good at 8.5)
Fabian Allen( Slow left arm + hard hitter , SR of 150+ in t20s + a gun fielder, must have if plays)
BOWL –
Lochie Ferguson( Right Arm Fast, hit the deck bowler, can easily bowl upto 150ks, 2 wickets in last game, Must have)
M Shami( Right Arm Fast, India’s premium pacer, 20 Wickets last season, 14 Wickets in 11 games this IPL, Must have)
Ravi Bhisnoi( Leg spin, talented spinner, bowled in powerplay last game, 9 Wickets in 6 games so far this season)
Prasidh Krishna( Right Arm Fast, can bowl upto 145ks, 12 Wickets in last 10 games this IPL, proving to be very expensive with bowl)
Varun Chakravarthy( Off spin, mystery bowler, had a brilliant last season with 17 Wickets at an eco of 6.85, 11w this IPL so far with a very impressive economy of 6.8)
Arshdeep Singh( Left arm medium fast, young talent, 9 Wickets in 8 games last season, 13 Wickets in last 9 games this season, will bowl in death )
Harpreet Brar ( Slow left arm + LHB, excellent game against RCB with 25 runs + 3 Wickets, good at 8.5cr )
Shivam Mavi( Right Arm fast medium, had excellent last season with 9 Wickets in 8 games, very good at 8cr, not played any game in 2nd phase )
C/VC –
KKR –
Venkatesh Iyer
Shubham Gill
Andre Russell
PUN –
KL Rahul
Aiden Markram
Mohammad Shami
