Kings XI Punjab have one of the best batting line-ups in the IPL. Except for the fact it’s a batting line-up that has not quite performed as per expectations this season.
Last season’s big hitters, Glenn Maxwell and David Miller, who were hitting balls for fun for the whole of 2014, have completely failed this season. Maxwell in particular has been a huge disappointment, scoring just 62 runs all season. David Miller has been in and out of the side.
As captain George Bailey, who has been one of the few bright stars this season for the Kings XI says, “To be perfectly honest, I don’t think in any of the three disciplines we have done as well as we would like consistently.”
The one player who has done well though, has been Shaun Marsh, sidelined for last season when Maxwell and Miller made merry, Marsh is back to being a crucial player for Kings XI Punjab. He single handedly won the last match against the formerly unbeaten Rajasthan Royals, easily the best team in the competition this year. He is expected to lead the Kings XI Punjab batting this year.
While the selectors wouldn’t want to mess around with Glenn Maxwell or Mitchell Johnson, as they are far too big names to be dropped to the bench, David Miller looks set to miss out, as does Thisara Perera.
Chennai Super Kings have lost only one match in this season and that has been to the excellent Rajasthan Royals side mentored by Rahul Dravid, and which has Steve Smith and Shane Watson in it. Apart from that, this IPL has been as perfect as it gets for M S Dhoni’s men.
Their top 3 are the best in the business – Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith and Suresh Raina. Then you have Faf Du Plessis, MS Dhoni, Dwayne Bravo and Ravindra Jadeja. Clearly, there isn’t a better batting team in the competition.
The would be worried about their bowling though, which clearly isn’t the best with Ashish Nehra and Ishwar Pandey – two utterly mediocre bowlers leading the new ball attack. R Ashwin has been disappointing, having conceded 8.16 per over and has only bowled his full quota of 4 overs in two out of 5 matches.
This match should represent a homecoming for sorts for Murali Vijay, who has been a star player for Chennai Super Kings for several years before shifting to Kings XI Punjab. He hasn’t exactly set the stage alight in his performances so far this season, so he would want to do much better against his old team.
Virender Sehwag has been a huge disappointment for Kings XI Punjab, and it’s high time that he performed, as the impression has gained ground that Sehwag is clearly past his best and should retire soon, and spare everyone the agony of seeing him fail time and time again.
An exciting match is in prospect, and the critical factor would be how the top 3 of Chennai Super Kings handle Mitchell Johnson’s pace. That should decide the match.
Watch Chennai Super Kings take on Kings XI Punjab at 8 PM tonight live on Sony Six!
