Photo credit: BCCI/IPLT20.com

After a win and a loss against Rajasthan Royals in back-to-back games, Kings XI Punjab are back to their second home at the Holkar Cricket Stadium, Indore. With a challenge against Kolkata Knight Riders on the horizon, they will be hoping to win and strengthen their bid for a Playoffs spot.

Aamne Saamne

Though they are way behind in the overall head-to-head record against KKR, KXIP have already won a match against them earlier this season by quite some margin in a rain curtailed encounter. With 6 wins from 10 games compared to KKR’s 5 wins from 11 games, KXIP are surely looking the more consistent team this season.

Batting de Baadshah

Enjoying life on the pitch at the moment, Lokesh Rahul is one of the frontrunners to win the Orange Cap at the end of this season. His two unbeaten scores of 84 and 95 in the two consecutive matches against RR typifies the good run of form he is in.

Dinesh Karthik has redefined himself as a batsman in the recent past – a Dinesh Karthik 2.0 if you may. Now with the added responsibility of the captaincy role too, Karthik has revelled and has scored the most runs for his side in the games they have played so far.

Bowling de Kings

If you can stem the flow of runs while also picking wickets at a quick clip, you are worth your weight in gold, especially in the T20 format, and Andrew Tye is doing exactly that for KXIP. With an impressive economy rate of 7.77 and 16 wickets to his name, Tye has been one of the best bowlers this season with best figures of 4/34.

Despite an altered action, Sunil Narine has not had difficulties in staying among the wickets, as the Caribbean spinner has shown. At an economy rate of 7.51, Narine has helped his team’s cause with 13 scalps, and has often been the go-to bowler for his captain.

From the Lion’s Mouth

“KL is in dynamite form, and if Chris fires then anything can happen.” - Brad Hodge

Mudde ki Baat

To guarantee a spot in the Playoffs this season, KXIP need to win two more matches from the remaining four, and they would be hoping to start work on that against KKR. With Rahul in tremendous form at the top of the order, and Tye and Mujeeb picking regular wickets, there are players in the side who have been impressive to say the least. However, the middle order woes still persist, and the fielding needs to improve as well.

KKR dug themselves a big hole when they lost to MI by an astounding margin of 102 runs. This also means that they have to win 3/3 matches if they are to advance further in this league. The opening partnership of Lynn and Narine has generally failed to deliver this season, and they have been pulled through by individual brilliance more often than usual. In terms of bowling too, the spinners seem to have a better grip of things when compared to the pace attack which has taken quite a hit due to injuries.

Yaad Rakhiyo

• Chris Gayle and Lokesh Rahul’s partnership of 116 from the match against KKR in April is the best opening stand this season
• Sunil Narine and Piyush Chawla are the most successful bowlers in this tie with 25 and 23 wickets respectively
• Axar Patel has a frugal economy rate of 6.16 against KKR

Who could play

KL Rahul (wk), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Yuvraj Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman

The side is more or less settled, but we might see the likes of Mayank Agarwal and Yuvraj Singh come back in the side to bring some more variety. The bowling attack has been immense, so don’t be surprised if there’s no change there at all.

NOTE: The aforementioned line-up is an educated guess at best, and the final decision rests with the captain and the team management depending on various external factors.