IPL 2019: After Chris Gayle, Ankit Rajpoot too has an injury problem

The Kings XI Punjab’s (KXIP) roller coaster ride in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 continued on Wednesday as they lost a thriller against Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Wankhede Stadium. Having scored 197 in 20 overs, KXIP picked MI’s stand-in skipper Kieron Pollard (83 off 31 balls) at a crunch moment of the match but yet could not stop the home side from stealing a victory in the final ball with three wickets in hand.

The Punjab side would be disappointed with the loss but it would also be concerned over the injury scares. Ravichandran Ashwin’s team has already seen its star member Chris Gayle suffering a twist in his back during the game against the MI. And in another injury worry, Ashwin revealed that speedster Ankit Rajpoot, who bowled the final over unsuccessfully against the MI at the Wankhede, also has a niggle. Rajput though did well to come back and pick the wicket of Pollard and also produced a wink at a tense moment but could not stop the opponents from taking the winning runs in the final delivery of the over.

“He (Ankit Rajpoot) injured his finger in the first over. It was a big bonus that we got three overs from him in the powerplay. We were a bit up and down with our fielding and catching,” Ashwin was quoted as saying after the Kings suffered their third loss in seven matches. Rajpoot has played three matches in IPL 12 so far, taking three wickets at an average of above 35.

The Kings defeated MI by 8 wickets in their first encounter in Mohali last month and even though opener KL Rahul repeated his good show with the bat against the same opponents (100 not out in 64 balls), it wasn’t enough at the end. Gayle also gave glimpses of his vintage best as he belted 63 off 36 balls with seven sixes. Pollard, who stepped in to captain the side in place of an injured Rohit Sharma, was picked as the man of the match.

The Kings next take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in Mohali on April 13.

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