IPL 9, Match 10 Preview: Rising Pune Supergiants look to get back to the winning ways

Rising Pune Supergiants started their IPL journey on a winning note but then lost out the battle of the debutants against Lions in their next. Kings XI Punjab, on the other hand, have faced two losses on the trot and are lying right at the bottom in the table. The MS Dhoni led side will start out as favorites purely on the basis of the star power they have in their line-up. The Kings, too, have great names in their line-up but have underperformed so far, and that has been the major reason for their poor run.

Kings XI Punjab:

Their batting order was a complete flop in the previous game. Except Manan Vohra, no one could actually spend any considerable time in the middle. This poor batting display actually set-up the loss for them. So, sensibly, there batting must click against RPSG if they intend to open their account in the points table. Shaun Marsh’s return to the team did not make any difference while skipper David Miller and Glenn Maxwell were also duds. It’s a known fact that the success of KXIP has been largely dependent on the performances of the abovementioned foreign players. Therefore, they must find a way to go blazing. Similarly strike bowler Mitchell Johnson should also try and get early breakthroughs and that is the same expectation from the experienced Mohit Sharma who is considered a good limited-overs bowler. Young Sandeep Sharma has been the only seamer who has found success with the new ball.

Rising Pune Supergiants:

MS Dhoni doesn’t have many problems to looks after. The top order has a dangerous combination of batsmen. Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis, Kevin Pietersen and Steven Smith all have made considerable contributions to the team in the first two games and obviously have immense potential to deliver. Dhoni, who usually doesn’t fiddle with the team combination hinted at ‘having a look at the team composition.’

This certainly would mean that the bowling attack would see some changes. We might see Irfan Pathan swapping places veteran swing bowler RP Singh who has leaked runs in the last two games. Pathan can be productive with the new ball and will also add batting depth to the line-up. Lead bowler Ishant Sharma has been consistent in the first spell but then gives away runs in his second spell. Ravichandran Ashwin and Murugan Ashwin combination has done a decent job so far.

Probable XI

Kings XI Punjab:

Ajinkya Rahane, Faf du Plessis, Kevin Pietersen, Steven Smith, Mitchell Marsh, MS Dhoni (C/wk), Irfan Pathan/RP Singh, Rajat Bhatia, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Murugan Ashwin

Rising Pune Supergiants:

Murali Vijay, Manan Vohra, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller (C), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Axar Patel, Mitchell Johnson, Pardeep Sahu, Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma

Stat attack:

1. This fixture would be Ravichandran Ashwin’s 100th IPL game.

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