Squads –
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
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, Pat Cummins, 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
Team News –
PBKS –
– The Kings from punjab have lost 3 of their 5 games but will be a moral booster for them after winning against the defending champions last game.
– Team can bring in Jhye Richardson or Chris Jordan in place of Fabian Allen this game.
– Teams likely 4 foreign options will be Chris Gayle, Nicolas Pooran, Moises Henriques, Fabian Allen/Chris Jordan/Jhye Richardson.
– KL Rahul and Mayank Agrawal will open the innings for PBKS. Both form a formidable opening pair and attacks from the very first ball. Both smashed a 122 run opening partnership in game against DC and in very good individual form.
– Christopher Henry Gayle will bat at 1 down. Gayle needs no introduction and also is in good form scoring match winning 42 in last game.
– Nicolas Pooran will bat at 2 down. Pooran is a very aggressive batsman and attack from word go. He will not keep the wickets. He has been out on duck 3 times in 4 games.
– Deepak Hooda and Shahrukh Khan will hold the middle order of team. Shahrukh has emerged himself as a finisher in the domestic circuit and has been assigned same role over here. He smashed 47 against CSK and 22 off 17 in game against SRH.
– Teams middle order is quite weak as they don’t have any proper batsman after this pair.
– Ravi Bishnoi and Deepak Hooda will be the spin option in the team.
– Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh and Chris Jordan(if plays) will lead the pace attack. Henriques will assist them.
KKR –
– KKR lost yet another game against RR and now at at the bottom of the table. Team doesn’t have many good options to choose from and will make just 1-2 changes in the bowling section.
– Team will make some changes in their Bowling section especially by bringing in Lochie Ferguson who can help them with his extreme pace.
– Team’s likely foreign players will be Eoin Morgan, Andre Russell, Pat Cummins and Lochie Ferguson/Sunil Narine.
– Shubham Gill and Nitish Rana will open the Innings. Both are youngster and will be important for team’s success. Gill has been completed out of form this series and is unable to middle the ball, still he is teams premier Indian player and should play.
– Young Tripathi will bat at 1 down. He is a aggressive player and was brilliant in 1st game where he scored 59 runs but is very inconsistent.
– Captain Morgan will bat at 2 down followed by Dinesh Karthik. Morgan has been in terrible form and haven’t crossed even 30 in the 5 games played while DK is also not is that good of form.
– Andre Russell will bat next and play the role of finisher. He smashed 54 of just 22 balls with 6 massive sixes against CSK but is Batting very low according to his standards.
– Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine and Harbhajan Singh will handle the spin section.
– Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Lochie Ferguson (high) and Andre Russell will lead the pace attack.
Probable XI –
PBKS –
KL Rahul, Mayank Agrawal, Chris Gayle, Nicolas Pooran, Deepak Hooda, Shahrukh Khan, Moises Henriques, Fabian Allen/Chris Jordan/Jhye Richardson, Mohammad Shami, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh
KKR –
Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (C), Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Sunil Narine/Lochie Ferguson, Pat Cummins, Harbhajan Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Mavi
Pitch Report –
Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
The Narendra Modi Stadium is a newly renewed stadium and is the biggest Cricket Stadium in the World. Here last series was played between India and England where scorer as low as 124 and as high as 224 were recorded here.
Team Blueprint –
WK –
KL Rahul( Open, RHB, highest scorer of IPL from last 2 seasons, 297 runs in 9 innings against KKR, 60* last game, Must have)
Nicolas Pooran( 2/3 down, LHB + wk, 353 runs last IPL with a SR of 169, can be a crusial GL pick)
Dinesh Karthik( Middle order, RHB + wk, 93 in practice game, 557 runs in 22 games against PBKS, can be a good GL pick)
BAT –
Chris Gayle( 1 down, LHB, universal boss no intro needed, 42(35b) in last game , 700 runs with an average of 46 against KKR, Must have)
Mayank Agrawal( Open, RHB, very attacking, was brilliant with 424 runs in 11 innings last season, scored 25 last game)
D Malan( 1 down, LHB, #1 t20 batsman in world cricket, 148 runs in t20 series against India recently, Must have if plays)
Eoin Morgan( 2 down, 418 runs last season for KKR, SR of 138 last season, very poor run this IPL still now, must GL pick )
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)
Nitish Rana( Open, LHB, had a decent last season with 352 runs at a SR of 138, 80, 57, 18, 9, 25 runs in last 5 games, Must have)
Rahul Tripathi( 1 down, RHB, very attacking, 232 runs in 11 innings last season, brilliant 53(29b) in 1st game, 36 runs in last game)
Mandeep Singh( Middle order, RHB, will play as a finisher, 186 runs with a brilliant SR of 140 in syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy recently, can be a good differential pick)
Shahrukh Khan( Middle order, RHB, SR of 236 in Syed Mushtaq trophy recently, 22(17b) last 2nd game, will play as an finisher)
Sarfaraz Khan( Middle order, RHB, known for his unorthodox Batting, didn’t played a game so far )
ALL –
Andre Russell( Middle order, RHB + medium fast, is bowling in death, overall Batting SR of 182 in IPL including 137 6s, 54(22b) last 2nd game, can be promoted any day, Must have)
Shakib Al Hasan(Slow left arm + LHB, middle order, very experienced, 5000+ Runs + 362 Wickets in T20 cricket, 26(25b) last 2nd game, high chances will not play)
M Henriques( 2/3 down, RHB + Right Arm medium fast, very highly experienced, 56,43,38,18 in BBL2020, bowled in powerplay last game)
Sunil Narine( Off spin, mystery bowler, can also open but is unlikely, had a poor season last year with just 5 Wickets, 1w 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, 2 down, had a very impressive season so far, 1w last game, Must)
Fabian Allen( Slow left arm + hard hitter , 482 runs + 19 Wickets in t20 with a Batting SR of 157, wicketless last game, can be dropped this game )
BOWL –
Pat Cummins(Right Arm Fast, world class bowler, not bowling in death, just 12 Wickets in 14 games last season, 64(34b) last 2nd game with bat, very expensive with bowl in all games)
Lochie Ferguson( Right Arm Fast, hit the deck bowler, can easily bowl upto 150ks, 6 Wickets in just 4 games last season, 63 t20 Wickets for him, can play this game)
M Shami( Right Arm Fast, India’s premium pacer, 20 Wickets last season, 2 Wickets in last game)
Chris Jordan( Right Arm medium fast, known for death bowling skills, 9 Wickets last season, can get a game)
Prasidh Krishna( Right Arm Fast, can bowl upto 145ks, was brilliant taking 6 Wickets in 3 games in ODI series, 4 Wickets in last 4 games, 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, 2w last game)
Harbhajan Singh( Off spin, very experienced, 232 t20 Wickets, 150 IPL Wickets on his name, bowling in powerplay most of the overs, can play this game)
Shivam Mavi( Right Arm fast medium, had excellent last season with 9 Wickets in 8 games, very good at 8cr, 1w last game)
Jhye Richardson( Right Arm Fast, SR of just 17 in t20 cricket, 26 Wickets this BBL, 2 Wickets but very expensive last 2nd game, was dropped in last 2 games )
Riley Meredith( Right Arm Fast, hit the deck bowler, can bowl upto 150ks, 16 Wickets this BBL, was dropped last 2 games)
Arshdeep Singh( Left arm medium fast, young talent, 9 Wickets in 8 games last season, 5 Wickets in last 5 games, will bowl in death )
C/VC –
PBKS –
KL Rahul
Chris Gayle
Mayank Agrawal
KKR –
Nitish Rana
Shubham Gill
Andre Russell