Squads –
KXIP –
KL Rahul (c & wk), Arshdeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Darshan Nalkande, Krishnappa Gowtham, Hardus Viljoen, Harpreet Brar, Jagadeesha Suchith, Karun Nair, Mandeep Singh, Mayank Agarwal, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Murugan Ashwin, Nicholas Pooran, Sarfaraz Khan, Chris Jordan, Deepak Hooda, Glenn Maxwell, Ishan Porel, James Neesham, Prabhsimran Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Sheldon Cottrell, Tajinder Dhillon
KKR –
Dinesh Karthik (c), Andre Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Rinku Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Siddhesh Lad, Sunil Narine, Chris Green, Eoin Morgan, M Siddharth, Nikhil Naik, Pat Cummins, Rahul Tripathi, Tom Banton, Varun Chakravarthy
Team News –
KXIP –
– Kings XI are at the bottom of the table with just 1 win from their 6 games. Except their opening pair in 1st 4 games and Pooran in middle no player has contributed to the team’s performance. Pooran was the lone warrior with his 37 ball 77 last game.
– Chris Gayle is all set to play his 1st game tonight. He will likely replace underperforming Glenn Maxwell.
– Chris Gayle, Nicolas Pooran ,Sheldon Cottrell and Jimmy Neesham/Mujeeb will be their likely 4 foreign players to start.
– Rahul will open with Chris Gayle. Gayle will finally play and open the innings. He is a impact player and has the ability to score big. Rahul has been in excellent form scoring 300+ runs this season.
– Mayank Agrawal will bat 1 down. He opened in all the games and was excellent with that opening slot but if gayle plays he has to bat 1 down.
– Nicolas Pooran will bat at 2 down. He is a exciting talent and has the ability to clear the fence with ease. He scored quickfire 77 of just 37 balls the other day.
– Mandeep will play the role of finisher along with Krishnappa Gowtham(if plays)
– Ravi Bishnoi and Mujeeb will lead the spin attack. Bishnoi has been excellent with his bowling as a youngster.
– Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Sheldon Cottrell will lead the pace attack. Jordan is a very good death bowler must pick if plays.
KKR –
– Knight Riders won a exciting contest against the CSK last game where they defended a average total 167 winning the game by 10 runs. Tripathi with the bat and Narine and Varun Chakravarthy with the bowls were the show stealers against CSK.
– Andre Russell, Eoin Morgan, Sunil Narine and Pat Cummins will be their 4 foreign players.
– Shubman Gill and Young Rahul Tripathi will open the innings. Tripathi showed why he deserves to open the Innings by scoring a brilliant 81 runs last game. Gill failed last game but is a quality batsman .
– Nitish Rana will bat at 1 down. Rana is a very attacking Batsman and was very consistent scoring 350+ runs last season. Rana scored 55 last 2nd game.
– English team t20 captain Eoin Morgan will bat 2 down. He is one of the best hitters in world cricket and was brilliant with his 18 ball 44 again Delhi. He had been demoted many times.
– Andre Russell and Dinesh will bat in middle and be involved in finishing the game. Russell is slightly out of touch but is a impact player and can perform in any game.
– Sunil Narine will lead the spin attack along with Mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. Both have been excellent last game with an economy close to 7 against CSK picking 1 Wicket each.
– Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Kamlesh Nagarkoti and Andre Russell will be likely leading the pace attack.
Probable XI –
KXIP –
KL Rahul(C), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agrawal, Mandeep Singh, Nicolas Pooran, PrabhSimran Singh(wk), Jimmy Neesham/Mujeeb Rahman, Arshdeep Singh, Sheldon Cottrell, Mohammad Shami, Ravi Bishnoi.
KKR –
Shubhman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Dinesh Karthik (c, wk), Pat Cummins, Sunil Narine, K Nagarkoti, Sivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy.
Pitch Report –
Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi
Pitches at Abu Dhabi are generally at the slower side giving assistance to spin more than pace in 2nd innings.
Average Score : 158
Head to Head –
Total games : 25
KXIP Won : 08
KKR Won : 17
Team Blueprint –
WK –
L Rahul( Opener + wk, currently best T20 Batsman in world cricket, 313 runs in 6 games this IPL, Must C/VC)
N Pooran( 2/3 down, very hard hitting batsman, can be promoted any day, 77(37b) last game, Must )
Dinesh Karthik ( 1/3 down, had a decent IPL 2019 with 242 runs at a SR of 143, poor form this season, his batting order is not fixed)
BAT –
Chris Gayle( Opener, no intro needed, played his last t20 in BPL 2019, 117R in 4 games against KKR, Must have)
Mayank Agrawal(Open/1 down, SR of 142 last IPL , excellent player of spin , 89(60), 26(20b), 106(50b), 25(18b) this tournament ,Must have )
Eoin Morgan ( 2/3 down, English team t20 captain, 6000+ t20 runs in 271 games , 42(29b), 34(23b),44(18b), 7(10b) last 4 games, very experienced, Must have )
Shubman Gill( Opener, very talented, can play big innings, 294 runs in 13 innings last IPL, 70*(62b), 47(34b) last 2 of 3 games , Must in batting section)
Tom Banton ( Opener, strikes the ball at 154 in t20s, very good form , 71,20,46 in 3 t20s against Pak, must have if plays)
Nitish Rana ( 1 down, very excellent domestic season along with 350 runs with SR of 143 last IPL, 26, 22,55, 9 last 4 games, Must have, he may also bowl )
Mandeep Singh( 2/3 down, very good Syed Mushtaq trophy with 3 50+ scores striking at 155, 27 last 2nd game)
Rahul Tripathi ( Opener, very attacking batsman, scores most of his runs in boundaries, 81(51b) last game against CSK, Must have)
Sarfaraz ( middle order, can be used as a floater for hitting, very good domestic form)
ALL –
Andre Russell ( 3-4 down + 2-3 overs of pace, one of the best hitters in t20 cricket, 510 runs at SR of 202 in IPL 2019 also 11 Wickets with bowl , 1w last game, bowling in death from last few games)
Sunil Narine ( Any position + off spin, mystery spinner, very experienced, 380+ T20 Wickets with 10 in last IPL, 17 runs + 1w last game, Must have, don’t make C/VC as he will give points mostly with bowl now )
Glenn Maxwell ( 2 down+ 2-3 overs of off spin, century against England recently, have completely failed this IPL , can be dropped this game)
Jimmy Neesham ( Middle order + Medium pacer, hard hitter of ball, failed with both bat and bowl this IPL)
K Gowtham ( Off spin + late hitting, SR of 166 in t20s, decent bowler , poor last IPL with just 1 Wicket, 22R + 1w last 2nd game )
BOWL –
Mujeeb ( Off spin, mystery bowler, one of the best t20 bowler, 16W in 11 CPL games, played last game but was wicketless)
Pat Cummins ( Pacer, world class bowler, 98 t20 wickets on his name, bowls at 145+ ks , wicketless very economical with bowl last game, Must have)
Kuldeep Yadav ( Chinnaman, mystery bowler and a must have choice from KKR, 115 t20 Wickets in 92 innings, just 1w in 3 games, poor form, didn’t played last game )
P Krishna ( Pacer, raw pace, bowls upto 145ks, poor last IPL with just 4 Wickets in 11 games, good at 8cr ))
K Nagarkoti ( Pacer, bowls with an average pace of 144, 11 Wickets in 9 list A games, 1 Wicket last game )
S Cottrell ( Left arm fast, known for his pace and bounce, 6 Wickets in 6 games this IPL, not a good death bowler )
M Shami ( Right Arm fast, hit the deck bowler, Wicket taker, 19 Wickets last IPL, 9 Wickets in 6 games, Must have)
Chris Jordan ( Right Arm Medium Fast, best death bowler currently in world cricket, very expensive last game played, will likely not play)
Ishan Porel ( Medium pacer, 13 t20 Wickets in 13 games, u19 player, got good pace, can get a game)
Ravi Bishnoi( Leggie, bowls fast spin, excellent domestic record, 3 Wickets last game )
S Mavi( Pacer, eco in very high close to 10, 6 Wickets in 5 games, death bowler for KKR )
M Siddharth( Slow left arm, 5 Wickets in tnpl 2019, can also bowl in powerplay)
Varun Chakravarthy ( Leg spin, mystery bowler with lot of variations, 1 Wicket in last game )
Murugan Ashwin( Leggie, bowls most of his deliveries as googly, 4 Wickets in last 2 games , didn’t played last few games)
C/VC Options –
KXIP –
KL Rahul
Mayank Agrawal
Chris Gayle
KKR –
Andre Russell
Eoin Morgan
Shubman Gill