If there are two sides that have made the greatest impression in the Indian Premier League 2018, it’s Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab. Together they have the three hottest players in the IPL right now, Chris Gayle, Andre Russell and Sunil Narine – all West Indians.
This match is going to all about these three players – Gayle vs. Russell, and Gayle vs. Narine. What a contest! Imagine, Gayle was only purchased at the last minute by Kings XI Punjab.
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Kings XI Punjab’s director Virender Sehwag tweeter he “saved the IPL” by picking Gayle at the auction when he went unsold twice. Gayle – the Universe Boss – reminded everyone why he is the greatest T20 batsman ever with a fifty and a hundred in his first two games.
The Universe Boss said, “I am not really here to prove anything. I’ve done it all before. Been there done that. Just put some respect on the name. And all the coaches as well – just put some respect as well.”
Yes, and coaches are paying attention. KKR bowling coach Heath Streak said, “He [Gayle] is a dangerous player. How you start to him is very important early on… If you allow someone like Chris to get into his innings and rhythm, he is a very dangerous player. He us just so powerful and backs his ability to clear the boundary when the ball is in his zone. We will keep an eye on him.”
Kings XI Punjab are dominated by Gayle, but they have a plenty of other good players. Ashwin is a natural leader and the smartest cricketer out there – so he makes for a great captain.
In Muzibur, they have the in-form bowler of the tournament and the likes of KL Rahul, Aaron Fitch and Yuvraj Singh can destroy any bowling attack on their day. This is a damn good team!
KKR are very good too. True, they depend on Russell and Narine, but they have wonderful backup in Nitish Rana and Dinesh Karthik. Robin Uthappa is a decent player too. This is hence a contest between two highly competitive teams and we expect a cracker of a match.
Prediction: If Gayle gets out early, KKR win. If Gayle bats for 15 overs, Kings XI win, as simple as that!
The Teams
Kolkata Knight Riders: 1 Chris Lynn, 2 Sunil Narine, 3 Robin Uthappa, 4 Nitish Rana, 5 Dinesh Karthik (capt & wk), 6 Andre Russell, 7 Shubman Gill, 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Tom Curran, 10 Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav
Kings XI Punjab: 1 KL Rahul (wk), 2 Chris Gayle, 3 Mayank Agarwal, 4 Karun Nair, 5 Aaron Finch, 6 Yuvraj Singh, 7 R Ashwin (capt), 8 Andrew Tye, 9 Barinder Sran/Axar Patel, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Mujeeb Zadran
Watch Kolkata Knight Riders play Kings XI Punjab IPL today at 4 pm Live on Star Sports!
