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
RR –
Steve Smith (c), Ankit Rajpoot, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Mahipal Lomror, Manan Vohra, Mayank Markande, Rahul Tewatia, Riyan Parag, Sanju Samson, Shashank Singh, Shreyas Gopal, Varun Aaron, Akash Singh, Anirudha Joshi, Anuj Rawat, Andrew Tye, David Miller, Jaydev Unadkat, Kartik Tyagi, Oshane Thomas, Robin Uthappa, Tom Curran, Yashasvi Jaiswal
Team News –
KXIP –
– Kings XI are at the 4th position now with back to back 5 wins. They still need to win both of their matches to be in the contendership of playoffs.
– Chris Gayle, Nicolas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell and Chris Jordan will be their likely 4 foreign players to start.
– Rahul will open with Mayank Agrawal/Mandeep Singh. Rahul is the highest scorer this season and had a rare failure last game according to his standards. Mayank has been very fluent with his shots and is 4th highest scorer this season but didn’t played last 3 games. Mandeep played a brilliant knock of 66 and remained not out last game.
– Chris Gayle will bat 1 down. Gayle made his arrival by scoring 53 against RCB and 2 quick 23 and 29 against MI and DC followed by 50 last game against KKR.
– Nicolas Pooran will bat at 2 down. He is a exciting talent and has the ability to clear the fence with ease. He has been in brilliant touch recently.
– Glenn Maxwell will bat 3 down. Deepak Hooda will bat next. Hooda played a brilliant cameo of 23 against MI. Maxxi took 1 Wicket last game but is also struggling to score runs.
– Ravi Bishnoi and Murugan Ashwin will bowl 8 overs of leg spin. Both are brilliant spinners and must have choice.
– Mohammad Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Chris Jordan will lead the pace attack. Jordan is a very good death bowler. Jordan took 2 and Shami 3 Wickets last game.
RR –
– Rajastan Royals had a brilliant chase against Mumbai Indians last game of 197 which the Royals achieved in just 18 overs with Stokes scoring his 2nd ton and Sanju smashing a 30 ball 50.
– Steven Smith, Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Jofra Archer will be RR 4 foreign players.
– Robin Uthappa and Ben Stokes will open the innings. Robby was looking good last game but went early on 13 but Stokes smashed his 2nd IPL ton in just 58 balls.
– Sanju Samson will bat in 1 down. Sanju was dealing only in 6s in 1st 2 games but failed completely in next games. He finally got his form back with 54* last game.
– Steven Smith will bat 2 down. Smith is one of the best white ball cricketer in world Cricket and after a poor run finally got some runs under his bat against RCB but failed again last game.
– Jos Buttler will bat 3 down. Buttler smashed an unbeaten 70 runs in just 48 balls against CSK and didn’t got a chance to bat in last game.
– Rahul Tewatia will bat next followed by Riyan Parag. Tewatia after taking the IPL by storm has lost his way a bit with the bat.
– Shreyas Gopal and Rahul Tewatia will bowl spin for Royals. Both are leg spinners and bowling very economically. Gopal took 2 Wickets last game.
– Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat/Ankit Rajpoot, Ben Stokes and Kartik Tyagi will lead the pace attack. Jofra and Kartik will bowl in death.
Probable XI –
KXIP –
KL Rahul(c), Mayank Agrawal/Mandeep Singh, Chris Gayle, Nicolas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Deepak Hooda/Mandeep Singh, Chris Jordan, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammad Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin
RR –
Robin Uthappa, Ben Stokes, Sanju Samson, Steve Smith, Jos Buttler(wk), Riyan Parag, Rahul Tewatia, Shreyas Gopal, Jofra Archer, Jaydev Unadkat/Ankit Rajpoot, Kartik Tyagi.
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 : 168
Team Blueprint –
WK –
L Rahul( Opener + wk, currently best T20 Batsman in world cricket, 595 runs in 12 games this IPL, Must C/VC)
Jos Buttler ( 3 down, international opener, 311 runs in 8 games IPL 2019 including 3 50+ scores, 70(48b) against CSK last 2nd game )
N Pooran( 2 down, very hard hitting batsman, can be promoted any day, 53(28b), 32 last 2 games, Must have)
Sanju Samson ( 1 down, SR of 214 this IPL, 74(32b), 85(42b) in 1st 2 games, 54* last game )
BAT –
Chris Gayle( 1 down, no intro needed, 53(45b),24(21b),29(13b), 51(29b) last 4 game, Must have)
Steve Smith ( 1 down, very consistent, 4000+ t20 runs, 2 50s in 1st 2 games, 57, 26, 19 runs last 3 of 4 games)
Mayank Agrawal(Open, SR of 142 last IPL , excellent player of spin, 398 runs in 10 games this tournament, Must have if plays )
Mandeep Singh( 3 down/open, very good Syed Mushtaq trophy with 3 50+ scores striking at 155, 66* last game, Must have but if opens)
Robin Uthappa ( Open, excellent last game when opened, scored 41(22b) against RCB last 3rd game, Must have )
David Miller( 2 down, 6000+ T20 runs including 3 100s , ignored by lot today, will not play unless there is any injury concerns)
Deepak Hooda ( Lower middle order+ part time off spin, decent option at 8cr)
Sarfaraz ( middle order, can be used as a floater for hitting, very good domestic form)
Riyan Parag ( 3 down, young talent , can also bowl, good choice in case of top order failure)
Y Jaiswal ( Opener, young takent, highest scorer in u19 WC, 400 runs at average of 133, will likely not play)
ALL –
Glenn Maxwell ( 3 down+ 3-4 overs of off spin, century against England recently, have completely failed this IPL, 1w last game )
Ben Stokes( Open + Medium pacer, best Allrounder in orld cricket, 107* runs in last game, Must have)
R Tewatia ( Leggie, bowls with really good variations, most important player of team, Must have)
Jimmy Neesham ( Middle order + Medium pacer, hard hitter of ball, failed with both bat and bowl this IPL, 1w last game played)
BOWL –
Mujeeb ( Off spin, mystery bowler, one of the best t20 bowler, 16W in 11 CPL games, didn’t played last game)
Jofra Archer ( Right Arm fast, one of best bowlers in world cricket, 2w last game, 18w this IPL, Must have will bowl in death )
Tom Curran ( Right Arm fast + hard hitter of ball, 153w + 900 runs in 123 t20 games, will not play)
Shreyas Gopal ( Leggie, best bowler of RR, 20 Wickets in 14 games last IPL, not in good form, 2w last game)
Jaydev Unadkat ( Left arm fast, known for his variations in death, experienced, 81 IPL Wickets, was dropped last game, can play )
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, 21 Wickets in 12 games, Must have)
Chris Jordan ( Right Arm Medium Fast, best death bowler currently in world cricket, 2w and bowled with good economy last game )
Ishan Porel ( Medium pacer, 13 t20 Wickets in 13 games, u19 player, got good pace)
Ravi Bishnoi( Leggie, bowls fast spin, excellent domestic record, 2w last game )
Kartik Tyagi ( Pacer, known for his pace and bounce, bowling really good this IPL, very expensive last game)
Murugan Ashwin ( Leggie, good bowler, bowls most if overs as googly, 1w last game )
Arshdeep Singh( Left arm pacer, bowling brilliantly in last 4 games, 3w last 2nd game, Must have)
C/VC Options –
KXIP –
KL Rahul
Mayank Agrawal
Chris Gayle
Nicolas Pooran
RR –
Jos Buttler
Ben Stokes
Steven Smith
Sanju Samson
