Kings XI Punjab are upbeat to make their way to the play-offs and would be taking on Rajasthan Royals at Mohali on Thursday. In-form batsmen Rahul Dravid, Shane Watson and Ajinkya Rahane will have to fight it out against the likes of Praveen Kumar, Manpreet Gony and Parwinder Awana while Punjab has found a gem in David Miller who has given a lot of stability and confidence to Kings XI.
Here we bring to you the players to watch out for in the match between Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Rajasthan Royals (RR).
Kings XI Punjab (KXI-P)
David Miller: Miller played a blistering knock of 101 runs in the last match and took Kings XI Punjab to a sensational win. His presence in the middle-order not only stabilises Punjab but also gives his team a chance of chasing down any target on any given track.
Praveen Kumar: Kumar has been phenomenal this season and would be looking to continue his good run. Though he was quite expensive in the last match; but would be looking to make a strong comeback in this match.
Parwinder Awana: Awana has complimented Praveen quite well and has been amongst the wickets so far. If he continues his good work, then he can be very lethal against the strong batting line-up of Rajasthan Royals.
Manpreet Gony: Gony has been effective as he has been varying his line and length quite nicely. He picked up two wickets in the last match but got hammered by AB De Villiers and Moises Henriques in death overs.
Shaun Marsh: Marsh has been looking bit rusty this season but he needs to find his form back because Kings XI need him to fire quite badly. If manages to display good form in this match, then he can turn-around the match for Punjab.
Rajasthan Royals (RR)
Rahul Dravid: Dravid has been the cornerstone for Rajasthan Royals batting and with two back to back half-centuries, he would be looking to make it big. His captaincy has been excellent so far and would be critical in this crunch match.
Ajinkya Rahane: Rahane would be high on confidence after being the man-of-the-match in the last couple of matches and would be looking to play another blistering knock against Punjab. Rahane has all that ability to make him a lethal player but he needs to be bit patient in the initial overs of the innings.
Shane Watson: Watson has been brilliant this season for RR and would be looking to make his presence feel by his all-round performance. He has been giving breakthroughs to his side quite consistently and it would be interesting to see how he will tackle the likes of Miller and Marsh.
Stuart Binny: Binny has played some dashing cameos in this IPL so far and would be looking to play a major hand in Rajasthan’s victory. He bowled brilliantly in last match and gave away just three runs in his two overs. He might come in handy on the pitch of Mohali.
Siddharth Trivedi: Trivedi has bowled some fine spells for RR this season and on the pitch of Mohali, he would be looking to make his efforts count. He has to be bit more aggressive in his approach and the things should fall in place for him.
By Amit Chopra
Indian Sports News Network