After a seven-day break, Kings XI Punjab opted for changes in a bid to unsettle Mumbai Indians. A shrewd thinker that R Ashwin is, he probably overdid the thinking bit heading into a crucial stage of the tournament, with the race to make it to the play-offs heating up, Kings XI will be hoping for a quick turnaround as they take on Rajasthan Royals in their second home game in Indore.
KXIP may also need to re-think their bowling options and strategies. Axar Patel was hardly used with the ball against MI, Marcus Stonis as a death-bowling option didn’t work in KXIP’s favour, with an off-day for an otherwise impressive Ankit Rajpoot complicating matters. On a ground with small boundaries, the margin for error is minimum and although KXIP impressed in their first half of their bowling innings, they couldn’t quite consolidate that in the latter part.
Finding the right combination has been RR’s problem this season but the line-up they went with for the previous game nearly worked for them and they’ll be eager to stick with it. Sanju Samson kept his cards close to his chest when asked if RR would persist with Short and Buttler at the top of the order, a move that worked for them well in the last game. Meanwhile, the batting-friendly conditions might just be the tonic that Rajasthan Royals are looking for as they hope to avoid a hat-trick of losses. Despite being placed at the bottom of the table currently, the Royals would take confidence from their performance in their previous game against Delhi Daredevils, when they narrowly missed out in a chase of a revised target of 150 in 12 overs. While Sanju Samson and Ajinkya Rahane have scored the bulk of the runs for RR, the team management will be pleased that Jos Buttler and D’Arcy Short are also fresh off blazing knocks, which comes as a welcome addition considering the hot and cold nature of RR’s batting in this competition.
Jofra Archer’s presence will be a key factor for RR going up against KXIP’s top heavy batting line-up. Although on the expensive side in their previous match – most of the bowlers were – Jaydev Unadkat getting amongst the wickets will give him some confidence. RR will also be banking on their allrounders like K Gowtham and Ben Stokes to deliver in their dual strike.
Head to head: KXIP 6 – 9 RR
Team record in Indore:
KXIP have a 3-2 win-loss record in Indore.
RR lost the only game they played at this venue.
Thus from 8PM at Holkar Stadium, Indore the battle starts and there is a lot more action on your screens.
Kings XI Punjab Probable XI: KL Rahul (wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Manoj Tiwary, Marcus Stoinis, R Ashwin (c), Axar Patel/Barinder Sran, Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb ur Rahman.
Rajasthan Royals Probable XI: Ajinkya Rahane (c), D’Arcy Short, Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler (wk), Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, K Gowtham, Jofra Archer, Shreyas Gopal, Jaydev Unadkat, Dhawal Kulkarni.
– Ankit Vaishnav
