IPL 2019 – Match 42: Royal Challengers Bangalore vs Kings XI Punjab – KXIP Predicted Playing XI

The Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) have experienced a slight hiccup in their last four matches. They lost three of these games and seemed to have slightly drifted away from the track. The team will be facing the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) next, who are still optimistic about making it to the playoffs. Contrarily, RCB won three of the last four games and seem to be high on confidence.

Just a few days ago, RCB defeated KXIP in their own backyard by 8 wickets. The Punjab franchise will look to avenge for this loss when they play at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. KXIP has been shuffling around a lot with the eleven in the last few games. But since there are only a few league games left, they would like to maintain the consistency with their playing XI.

Here is the Predicted Playing XI for the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP):

Openers (KL Rahul (wk), Chris Gayle)

The former RCB players, KL Rahul and Chris Gayle, will be back at the Chinnaswamy for this encounter. Both of them have played a lot of their cricket here at this venue. The Caribbean cricketer fancies the short boundaries in Bengaluru and has smashed it out of the park on several instances in the past. He is in good form and will be the biggest threat for the hosts.

It is important for the openers to see off the threat from Dale Steyn in the powerplay. KL Rahul is someone who fishes a lot outside the off-stump and the South African pacer will be looking forward to exploiting this weakness. Even if this duo gets to a slow start, they have got all the shots in the book to make up for it later on.

Middle Order (Mayank Agarwal, David Miller, Mandeep Singh)

Mayank Agarwal is another boy from Karnataka who knows the Chinnaswamy stadium inside out. The right-hander has been hitting the ball extremely well. However, he needs to work on his temperament in T20 cricket. He has been getting out while attempting to play unnecessary big shots. Mayank will want to make it big in the upcoming match for sure.

KXIP might give David Miller another opportunity. He is an absolute destroyer of the bowling attacks and can be brutal once he gets his eye in. The Proteas cricketer has been looking to hit the big shots too early in his innings. Instead, he should focus on building his innings first and then play the aggressive cricket. Mandeep Singh is doing extremely well for the side and will continue to feature in the side.

All Rounders (Sam Curran)

Sam Curran hasn’t been at his complete best in the last few matches. But he is highly talented and is capable of turning the game around within a matter of time. He is great with the new ball and should eye at setting up someone like Virat Kohli early on in the innings. Being a left-arm pacer, he finds a slight advantage over the RCB skipper. Moreover, he will be important for KXIP with the bat down the order.

Bowlers (Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Harpreet Brar, Hardus Viljoen, Murugan Ashwin, Mohammed Shami)

Ravichandran Ashwin has been a street smart skipper and is doing an impressive job. He is also mixing up his variations well with the ball in hand. The KXIP skipper is expected to nullify the likes of Parthiv and Moeen Ali. Harpreet Brar might get another opportunity. He did well with the bat in the last game and couldn’t deliver with the ball. With the butterflies in the stomach settled now, he is presumed to put up a better show.

Hardus Viljoen, Murugan Ashwin and Mohammed Shami will be the other bowlers in the lineup. Hardus has got to bowl tighter lines and restrict the run flow. Just like Sam Curran, Murugan Ashwin will also fancy his chances against Kohli who seems to be in trouble against the leg-spinners.

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