Like most seasons in the Dream11 Indian Premier League, the drama of which team finishes where on the points table will go down to the wire, with six teams still in contention to join Mumbai Indians in the quest for a playoffs position. Kings XI Punjab looked most likely to finish in the top four with their second half resurgence, but the defeat to Rajasthan Royals on Fridays leaves the door open for many other franchises to capitalize, and makes this game against Chennai Super Kings a must-win for KL Rahul and co. 

Aamne Saamne

Chennai have a better head-to-head record, and also won the match when these two sides met earlier in the competition. Kings XI Punjab however have a lot riding on this game, needing a win to make it to the playoffs while CSK have already been eliminated from the competition. Secondly, Chennai haven’t done a double over Kings XI since 2015, and KL Rahul’s side wouldn’t want that trend to break. 

Batting de Baadshah

South African batsman Faf du Plessis has been the leading run getter for Chennai Super Kings, and also got an unbeaten 87 against KXIP earlier in the season. Du Plessis however didn’t feature for Chennai in their previous game, and could be a doubt for this game as well given the franchise wouldn’t want to tinker with a winning combination. Nevertheless, CSK’s batting pose a significant threat with the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ambati Rayudu picking up form. 

KL Rahul continues to be head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the batsmen in this IPL, and continues to hold on to that Orange Cap. The KXIP skipper scored a stylish 45 in the game against Rajasthan, and has been a big match player for his franchise. Heading into Sunday’s day game, Rahul would be hopeful to lead from the front and get another big score to give his side a chance to make the playoffs. 

Bowling de Kings

Sam Curran has been the star performer for Chennai in what has largely been a season to forget for the three-time IPL champions. The young English all-rounder has played all games for CSK so far and has been very impressive with the new ball, picking up wickets more often than not. Being a former KXIP player himself, Curran would hope for a good outing in his final game of IPL 2020. 

Mohammed Shami has 20 wickets so far in the IPL, which is eight more than any bowler in his franchise. The 30-year-old went wicketless in his previous game, but has been effective with the new ball on most occasions. Shami continues to get good swing early on in the innings and has been effective in the death as well with his yorkers. He has been KXIP’s senior bowler this year, and the franchise would hope for him to lead from the front in this crunch game on Sunday. 

Mudde di Baat

The game holds more importance for Kings XI Punjab, as they need a win to have a chance of making it to the playoffs. Even if they win, they would either have to win by a big margin to beef up their net run rate, or hope that Sunrisers Hyderabad lose their final game. Chennai Super Kings have already been eliminated from the competition, but could spoil the campaigns for other teams; and head into this game off the back of two big wins. 

Yaad Rakhiyo

• Chris Gayle is third on the list for most sixes hit in the 2020 IPL despite playing just six games so far.
• Nicholas Pooran is just 23 runs away from getting to 3000 T20 runs.
• Kings XI Punjab beat CSK in their final league game last season in the IPL. 

Probable XI

KL Rahul (c and wk), Mayank Agarwal, Chris Gayle, Nicholas Pooran, Glenn Maxwell, Mandeep Singh, Jimmy Neesham, Ravi Bishnoi, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh.

Kings XI Punjab would hope that Mayank Agarwal is fit again for this crunch game, and can come into the top-order with Deepak Hooda unfortunately missing out. A second chance that could be on the cards is Jimmy Neesham coming in for Chris Jordan- who proved expensive against RR and struggled in the reverse leg against Chennai as well. 

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.