Match:KXIP vs DD, 36th Match, Indian Premier League, 2016
Date:Saturday, May 07, 2016
Time:02:30 PM GMT
Venue:Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali
Stadium:Punjab Cricket Association Stadium
City:Mohali
Capacity:30000
Ends:Pavilion End, City End
Hosts to:Punjab
After a below-par effort against Pune Supergiants, the Delhi Darevils will be looking to hit the straps rightaway with their prime players set to comeback in the playing XI as they take on wooden spooners Kings XI Punjab in an IPL encounter in Mohali on Saturday.
For Delhi though, the biggest question will be where would they fit their Rs 8.5 crore buy Pawan Negi. Every year, the GMR-owned franchise have had a buy that has defied logic and the player has inevitably come a cropper.
After three horrendous season, the Daredevils have had a decent outing so far under Rahul Dravid's mentorship and Zaheer Khan's captaincy, having won five of their eight games and are placed third in the eight-team table.
On paper, Daredevils are overwhelming favourites against a Kings XI Punjab side, who have neither shown stomach for a fight nor any kind of proper homework to take on the opposition. More so, the mistakes have been repeated, they have pressed the panic button by replacing David Miller as the skipper, which has done little to change the fortune of their team.
KXIP which looked to have gained some confidence from their 23-run win against table toppers Gujarat Lions, were quick to fritter away their advantage in their last match when they lost by 7 runs chasing Kolkata Knight Rider's score of 164.
Punjab outfit recently changed skipper David Miller apparently to take pressure off him, but he too is struggling and it was evident when he made only 13 of 18 balls against KKR. The newly appointed captain Murali Vijay also failed with the bat against KKR, even as top order batsmen like Manan Vohra and Marcus Stoinis also failed to make the cut.
Negi's 51 runs in 6 innings and a total of 6 overs for 65 runs in 6 matches without a wicket would have raised many more questions had the team repeated its dismal performances of the past editions.
Having notched up a hat-trick in the current IPL, all-rounder Axar Patel has emerged as key player for the Kings XI and the team would be once again hoping a top performance from him.
Kings XI Punjab Squad:
Kyle Abbott, Anureet Singh, Armaan Jaffer, Farhaan Behardien, Konganda Cariappa, Rishi Dhawan, Gurkeerat Singh, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Nikhil Naik, Axar Patel, Wriddhiman Saha, Pardeep Sahu, Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Marcus Stoinis, Swapnil Singh, Shardul Thakur, Murali Vijay, Manan Vohra
Delhi Daredevils Squad:
Mayank Agarwal, Khaleel Ahmed, Sam Billings, Carlos Brathwaite, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Quinton de Kock, JP Duminy, Akhil Herwadkar, Imran Tahir, Shreyas Iyer, Zaheer Khan, Mahipal Lomror, Chama Milind, Amit Mishra, Mohammed Shami, Albie Morkel, Chris Morris, Shahbaz Nadeem, Karun Nair, Pawan Negi, Rishabh Pant, Joel Paris, Pratyush Singh, Sanju Samson, Pawan Suyal, Saurabh Tiwary, Jayant Yadav
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