Match 54: Kings XI Punjab v Chennai Super Kings

Venue – Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association Stadium, Dharamsala

Head to Head: Kings XI Punjab – 1; Chennai Super Kings – 5

Kings XI Punjab

The match is of less importance to Kings XI Punjab as they are already out of the tournament. It will be even harder for Sangakkara’s boys to know that even a win will not help them move ahead of the bottom spot in the points table; however Punjab will like to sign off on a high with a win over one of the stronger teams in the tournament. They may make some changes to their team and one that is likely to happen is Shalabha Srivatsava, the pace bowler will be replaced by Sreesanth or any other local bowler while Yusuf Abdulla who impressed all with a spending performance last season may get him first chance.

Best bet for Kings XI Punjab: Kumar Sangakkara – 9/10

Mahela Jayawardene – 8/10

Yuvraj Singh – 8/10

Irfan Pathan – 7/10

Shaun Marsh – 7/10                                       

Chennai Super Kings

The situation for Chennai is crystal clear. Win today to go through the semi-finals or lose to pack their bags home. However much will depend on the result of this match as Delhi, Deccan and Kolkata will have a keen eye on the proceedings. Chennai though would like to see Matthew Hayden strike gold as he is yet to play anywhere close to the way he did in any other T20 tournaments he was involved in. Chennai will also look to make some changes to their batting while inclusion of Muralitharan is unlikely to happen.

Best Bet for Chennai Super Kings: Matthew Hayden – 9/10

Suresh Raina – 9/10

MS Dhoni – 8/10

Ravichandran Ashwin – 8/10

Murali Vijay – 8/10

Match 38: Rajasthan Royals v Kings XI Punjab

Venue – Sawai Man Singh Stadium, Jaipur

Head to Head: Rajasthan Royals – 3; Kings XI Punjab – 2

Rajasthan Royals

Rajasthan will be upbeat about the victory over Deccan Chargers which has put them in strong contention for the semi-final spot. Shane Warne has slowly rediscovered his magic touch with the ball and the team is delivering to his expectations. Naman Ojha has been a revelation while Shane Watson’s induction has given the Royals the defining factor. Watson in his two innings has batted explosively while his bowling has been handy at times. Yusuf Pathan form has blown hot and cold this IPL however he is due for at least one more match winning innings.

Best Bet for Rajasthan Royals: Shane Watson – 9/10

Naman Ojha – 8/10

Yusuf Pathan – 8/10

Shane Warne – 8/10

Abhishek Jhunjhunwala – 7/10

Kings XI Punjab

Two Sri Lankans played to their reputation to revive Punjab’s nightmare this IPL in their last match against Kolkata Knight Riders. Mahela Jayawardene’s ominous form as an opener will convince the Punjab’s team management to play him in the same role. Shaun Marsh if recovered will be a boost for Royals who will open along with Jayawardene. Sangakkara and Yuvraj are also slowly finding their flow with bat while bowling might still be a concern. Brett Lee went for runs and was dropped for the last match while no other bowlers impressed in the last match. It will be interesting to see how they tackle the hard hitting Rajasthan batsmen.

Best bet for Kings XI Punjab: Yuvraj Singh – 9/10

Mahela Jayawardene – 8/10

Kumar Sangakkara – 8/10

Juan Theron – 8/10

Irfan Pathan – 7/10

Match 11: Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab

Indian Premier League 2010, Day 8

Match 11: Deccan Chargers v Kings XI Punjab

Venue – Barabati Stadium, Cuttack

Head to Head: Deccan Chargers – 0; Kings XI Punjab – 4

Deccan Chargers

It’s been an even-out result for Deccan Chargers with one win and one loss. This is their home match but Chargers are yet to win a home match in IPL. Will Cuttack be lucky? Only time will tell. Their batsmen have shown form but no big contribution from any except half-centuries from Gilchrist and Symonds. Much awaited wait for Kemar Roach is now over but Gilchrist has the headache of who to leave out among Gibbs, Symonds and Vaas all of whom have contributed immensely in the two matches played. Chargers have quality swing bowlers, but their problem has been bowling at the death.

Best Bet for Deccan Chargers: Chaminda Vaas – 9/10

Adam Gilchrist – 8/10

Rohit Sharma – 8/10

T Suman – 7/10

Andrew Symonds – 7/10

Kings XI Punjab

Losing both their matches Kings XI will look to take inspiration from their past performances against Deccan Chargers. Four out of four speaks volumes for a side that is desperate to kick-off their points tally. Batting was their concern in the first game, but Sangakkara’s faith was answered with a powerful display against Bangalore but bowling has been below par in the absence of Brett Lee. With too many big strikers in Deccan’s line-up it will be yet another challenge for Kings XI before they can end up on the winning side.

Best Bet for Kings XI Punjab: Yuvraj Singh – 9/10

Kumar Sangakkara – 9/10

Ravi Bopara – 8/10

Sreesanth – 7/10

Irfan Pathan – 7/10

Indian Premier League 2010, Day 5

Match 7: Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI Punjab

Venue – Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore

Head to Head: Royal Challengers Bangalore – 1; Kings XI Punjab – 3

Royal Challengers Bangalore

No positive came out of their first match in Kolkata but as they say it is a very long tournament. One loss will not change the fortunes of the Bangalore team and Anil Kumble will be aware of it. Youngsters Sreevats Goswami, Manish Pandey and Virat Kohli didn’t make use of the opportunity in the first outing, however the later two are likely to retain the place but Goswami might be replaced by Mark Boucher. In that case, Dale Steyn will be the one to sit out and either of Mithun or Vinay Kumar will get the nod. A team is as good as their captain, so is vice-versa. Therefore one can expect determined Anil Kumble bringing the best out of his players at the home ground.

Best Bet for Royal Challengers Bangalore:

Manish Pandey – 8/10

Rahul Dravid – 8/10

Virat Kohli – 8/10

Ven der Merwe – 7/10

Anil Kumble – 7/10

Kings XI Punjab

Sangakkara’s men threw it away against Delhi Daredevils with a help of some poor shot selection despite big names in the top order. However, these men are far too experienced to repeat such mistakes and are expected come out blazing against an unstable attack. On the other hand, Punjab poses a decent attack in the likes of Sreesanth, Abdulla and junior Pathan and can make up for the loss of pace sensation Brett Lee. Lee is set to miss the whole tournament as he did not recover from injury.

Best Bet for Kings XI Punjab: Kumar Sangakkara – 9/10

Yuvraj Singh – 9/10

Irfan Pathan – 8/10

Yusuf Abdulla – 8/10

Ravi Bopara – 7/10

Indian Premier League 2010 Teams Preview – Kings XI Punjab

Team: Kings XI Punjab

Owners: Preeti Zinta, Ness Wadia (Bombay Dyeing), Karan Paul (Apeejay Surendra Group) & Mohit Burman (Dabur)

Bought for: USD 76 million

Captain: Kumar Sangakkara

Coach: Tom Moody

Home Ground: Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali

IPL 2009 Result: Six

IPL Record: Played – 29, Won –17, Lost – 12, Tie – 0, No Result -0

Best Batsman: Yuvraj Singh – Runs: 340; S/R: 115.64

Best Bowler: Irfan Pathan – Wkts: 17; RPO: 7.74

Build Up:

Watch Out For:

Yuvraj Singh – Dropped from captaincy Yuvraj will like to prove his worth to his team owners with some consistent all-round display. His power hitting abilities with bat and electric fielding is well-known but the Punjab lad has been very successful with ball as well in the last IPL. Yuvraj picked up two hat-tricks and is good at varying the pace of the ball.

Adrian Barath – This young lad from Caribbean is the talk of the cricketing world ever since he made his international debut. He has proved it with a well earned Test hundred in Australia recently. Barath is an explosive opening left-handed batsman with huge potential and IPL is the right platform for him to exhibit it.

Dark Horse:

Brett Lee – Brett Lee is a match-winner. No doubt. But if he can remain fit throughout the tournament Lee can be Punjab’s biggest asset.

The Squad:

Kumar Sangakkara (Captain), Yuvraj Singh Brett Lee, James Hopes, Shaun Marsh, Mahela Jayawardene, Ravi Bopara, Irfan Pathan, S Sreesanth, Ramesh Powar, Piyush Chawla, Karan Goel, Tanmay Srivastava, Love Ablish, SJ Srivastava, VS Malik, Yusuf Abdulla, Amanpreet Singh, Adrian Barath, Mohammad Kaif, Bipul Sharma, MS Bisla, RS Sodhi

Sangakkara appointed KXIP captain

It’s now official. Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara will replace Punjab’s Yuvraj Singh as the captain of Indian Premier League franchise (IPL) Kings XI Punjab. Since the Test series between India and Sri Lanka a few months back there was a speculation over captaincy changeover but now it has been confirmed by franchise chief executive officer Anil Srivatsa.

Srivatsa said the management is hoping that the move will allow Yuvraj to focus more on his all rounder skills. “Kumar Sangakkara is the new captain of Kings XI Punjab. We are hoping for good things to come out of it. Being taken off the leadership role does not diminish Yuvraj’s standing in the team. Yuvraj’s inputs are vital for us. He has done well for the team in the past two seasons and he has one more year with us. He did his job well enough. This has got nothing to do with all this.”

Sangakkara on his part said he had spoken to Yuvraj about the change of guard and assured that the transition will be a smooth one. “I have enjoyed playing under Yuvraj, he is a very able captain. When everything was not concrete, I spoke to him and after that I decided that it was the right time to take up captaincy. I don’t think it would cause any problem. He is a very good friend. I had a long chat with him on this, everything was done very transparently. Moreover, Yuvraj is the most important player in our side. Any IPL team will be lucky to have him. He can change a match just like that. He is a match-winner.”

Yuvraj captained Punjab team in the first two editions of the IPL where the team reached semi-finals in the inaugural edition in India and failed to make the top four last year in South Africa. However, Yuvraj was the leading run scorer for his team in the previous edition scoring 340 runs including two half centuries. Sangakkara now join the list of a few foreign players – Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist, Shaun Pollock, Brendon McCullum and Kevin Pietersen to lead an IPL team.

Bollywood boys on look out for IPL teams

The decision to add two new teams from fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) has created interest in Bollywood as actors Salman Khan, Ajay Devgan and Sanjay Dutt are reported to be eyeing to own an IPL team. IPL is already filled with Bollywood colors as Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla owns Kolkata Knight Riders, Pretty Zinta co-owns Kings XI Punjab along with her ex-beau and businessman Ness Wadia, and Shilpa Shetty and her faience Raj Kundra holds a stake in Rajasthan Royals.

Salman Khan led the way when he met IPL commissioner Lalit Modi in a hotel in Mumbai just before the IPL committee meeting last week. It is reported that Salman’s interest to buy an IPL team was initiated by his sister Arpita’s fondness for the game. Speaking to media persons Lalit Modi confirmed Salman’s interest said, “We’ve been having discussions for the last few months, but this is our first official meeting. He was interested in knowing what it takes to own a team and the process involved – when his move could be initiated and how long it would take. I think he is a serious buyer.”

Salman’s business manager Vikas Kapoor said, “It is too early for us to talk about it. We will speak only if things become concrete.” According to IPL sources Ajay Devgan is also interested in buying a team. “A common friend from the IPL did approach us but that was long time back. Ajay was about to start his film ‘All The Best’ and so things didn’t move forward.”

Modi also said that there are about 20 celebrities wanting to become team owners but he refused to name any of them.

ICC World Twenty20 Preview: Sri Lanka

SRI LANKA – Group C

Unlucky in the draw, Sri Lanka will have to play out of their skins to win a spot in the super eight – they are grouped with Australia and West Indies. The team has recovered well mentally from the terror attacks they encountered in Lahore and nearly half of their squad played in IPL, where many of them performed superbly and the team will look to carry forward that momentum into the tournament. However, can other fringe players who didn’t play in Indian Premier League come to the party?

Watch Out For:

Muttiah Muralitharan: The Indian Premier League has proved that slow bowlers can be crucial weapons in the short format of the game. Muralitharan’s magical arms are amongst the deadliest.

Tillakaratne Dilshan: He was one of the most consistent players in the IPL this year. The opportunity to bat higher in the order has allowed him to score big runs literally in every match.

X-factor: The man with the side-arm bowling action, Lasith Malinga can change the game in a matter of a few balls. Look out for his toe-crushing Yorkers.

Dark Horse: Former captain Mahela Jayawardene is not an out-and-out T20 player, but his ability to pace his innings superbly has seen him win matches single handedly for his IPL franchise Kings XI Punjab.

Team:

Captain: Kumar Sangakkara

Muttiah Muralitharan, Indika de Saram, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sanath Jayasuria, Mahela Jayawardene, Nuwan Kulasekara, Farveez Maharoof, Lasith Malinga, Angelo Mathews, Ajantha Mendis, Jehan Mubarak, Chamara Silva, Thilan Thushara and Isuru Udana

Coach: Trevor Bayliss

Super Kings vs. Kings XI Punjab

Despite holding an almost insurmountable statistical advantage over the Rajasthan Royals, the Super Kings (1.70) can ill afford to lose against the Kings XI Punjab (2.15) in the second of today’s fixtures at Kingsmead. Dhoni’s side will be looking to secure their spot in the semis and, in doing so, end Punjab’s tournament. Chennai has to do a lot wrong here tonight to spoil their Indian Premier League party, while Punjab will no doubt be ruthless in their quest for IPL survival.

IPL odds supplied courtesy of Canbet.com. New members receive a £25 Cricket Free Bet.

IPL match preview:

Chennai Super Kings

IPL 2009 so far: Played – 13, Won – 7, Lost – 5, N/R – 1

The Super Kings already have one foot in the top four and are playing to cement their place at number two. However, a loss here would see them qualify at number four, just ahead of the Rajasthan Royals due to a better net run rate. Dhoni has come down hard on his bowlers for their poor showing against Kolkata when they failed to defend 189. Their fielding has also been a cause of concern and

Best Bet for Chennai Super Kings:

Matthew Hayden – 10/10
MS Dhoni – 9/10
Suresh Raina – 9/10
Albie Morkal – 8/10
Muttiah Muralitharan – 8/10

Kings XI Punjab

IPL 2009 so far: Played – 13, Won – 7, Lost – 6

It’s do or die here for Kings XI Punjab, they must win to advance to the IPL semi-finals. In their favour, Yuvraj Singh is having a good run with the ball, as is Irfan Pathan. Fiery speedster Brett Lee is also potential threat up front for the Super Kings batsmen. Sangakkara has struck form at the right time with the willow, however Punjab will hoping that Jayawardene recovers in time to bolster the order. They are in a roll at the moment after beating Delhi and Deccan, and have the potential to be a highly competitive side.

Best Bet for Kings XI Punjab:

Yuvraj Singh – 9/10
Kumar Sangakkara – 9/10
Brett Lee – 8/10
Irfan Pathan – 8/10
Simon Katich – 7/10

Delhi Daredevils vs. Kings XI Punjab

Having never hosted an international Twenty20 fixture, the Bloemfontein ground is an unknown, along with which Kings XI Punjab side will show up today – the good, the bad or the ugly – when they clash with tournament front runners the Delhi Daredevils. Punjab’s tournament is still in the balance while Delhi is sitting pretty at the top of the table, making for an intriguing encounter.

IPL odds supplied courtesy of Canbet.com. New members receive a £25 Cricket Free Bet.  

IPL match preview:

Delhi Daredevils

IPL 2009 so far: Played – 10, Won – 8, Lost – 2

Having already secured a place in the Indian Premier League semi-finals, the Daredevils may give their bench warmers a chance to flex their muscles. Glenn McGrath and Farveez Maharoof should get a look in, replacing Dilshan and Dirk Nannes.    

Best Bet for Delhi Daredevils:

Virender Sehwag – 8/10
Ashish Nehra- 8/10
Dinesh Karthik – 8/10
AB DeVillers- 8/10
Rajat Bhatia- 8/10

Kings XI Punjab

IPL 2009 so far: Played – 11, Won – 5, Lost – 6

Unlike Delhi, this is a must win game for Punjab. To triumph and stay in the running for a top four finish, they must get their batting back in order. With Jayawardene out due to injury, the pressure falls on Sangakkara and Yuvraj Singh to lead the way with the bat. Overall, the Kings XI Punjab must raise their game on all levels to survive in the IPL.

Best Bet for Kings XI Punjab:

Yuvraj Singh – 9/10
Kumar Sangakkara – 8/10
Brett Lee – 8/10
Simon Katich – 7/10
Sunny Sohal – 7/10

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