After heartbreaking losses, making it two defeats in three matches for each of the sides, both Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and defending champions Mumbai Indians (MI) are looking to find some winning momentum on Thursday. While KXIP suffered a loss when Rahul Tewatia became an overnight star, MI, despite an equally stunning fightback from Ishan Kisan and Kieron Pollard, could only so much as tie the game before succumbing in the Super Over against RCB.
Two of the best bowling sides in powerplay this IPL, KXIP and MI are, at the same time, have bowled their worst in death overs. Their pacers’ inconsistency – in particular that of Sheldon Cottrell and Jasprit Bumrah – contributed to it a lot.
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Rahul’s three previous scores against Mumbai Indians read 100* (64), 71* (57), and 94 (60), and his current form can become a huge threat for Rohit Sharma and his men. In fact, Rahul (222) and teammate Mayank Agarwal (221) are the tournament’s leading run-getters at the moment, having scored marginally over 2/3rds of their team’s runs in the three games so far.
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As much as Rahul will cherish the match-up against a seemingly off-color Bumrah, MI would be hoping to exploit his weakness against spinners, as he has often been seen batting slowly in the middle overs. However, a bigger ground means spinners will come into play a lot more at Abu Dhabi. MI holds the upper hand of 13-11 over KXIP in their head-to-head matches.
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP)
KXIP needs to improve their bowling standards as barring Ravi Bishnoi, none of the bowlers have been economical – not even Mohammed Shami for all the wickets he’s picked. They could be tempted to bring in Mujeeb ur Rahman, a more than a handy option with the new ball as well as in the slog overs. But that would mean dropping Sheldon Cottrell for an uncapped Indian pacer.
Probable XI: KL Rahul (c/wk), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Nicholas Pooran/Chris Gayle, Glenn Maxwell, James Neesham, Sarfaraz Khan, M Ashiwn, Ravi Bishnoi, Sheldon Cottrell/Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Mohammad Shami
Mumbai Indians (MI)
If Nathan Coulter-Nile becomes available for selection, he can be expected to come to the playing XI as a replacement for James Pattinson. After his counterattacking 99, Ishan Kishan will, in all probability, continue in the eleven.
Probable XI: Rohit Sharma (C), Quinton de Kock (wk), SuryaKumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Kieron Pollard, Hardik Pandya, Krunal Pandya, James Pattinson/Nathan Coulter-Nile, Rahul Chahar, Trent Boult, Jasprit Bumrah
