Kings XI Punjab sink further after loss to Mumbai Indians

Kings XI Punjab is one of the few franchises to start the Indian Premier League in a positive fashion. Ashwin and co were going all guns blazing right from the word go. The team balance was looking good as they were winning matches after matches are further strengthening their position. Just when things were going good, things took a downturn and KXIP lost the winning formula as they started losing matches in heaps.

KL Rahul, Andrew Tye, Chris Gayle and Mujeeb Ur Rahman have been the four key players for KXIP. Rahul seems to have found his form again and is striking the ball clean while Tye is leading the race for Purple cap quite comfortably. Gayle started off well but has looked out of touch off late while Mujeeb is suffering from a finger injury. While these players have been doing well individually, collective efforts have been poor from the team as they have failed to get over the line despite excellent performances at the top and at the death.

Rahul and Tye lead the charts for Orange and Purple cap but their team is not in a good position in the points table. Punjab’s losses show that cricket is not an individual game. You need to do well collectively to win a match. On Wednesday, Rahul buried his face in his hands as he sank in his seat in the KXIP dugout, falling to Jasprit Bumrah in the penultimate over of the chase when his team was 20 runs off from taking a step closer to the elusive playoffs berth. Tye, who has been taking four-fors more often than not too was not pleased after his side’s loss.

Bad to Worse

“It’s bitterly disappointing that we did not win against Mumbai tonight. We figured that was probably about par score on that wicket. We had the firepower in our team to chase it down and we could not do it. Doesn’t really matter if I take 4/16 or someone else takes 4/16. It means obviously someone else has let you down and it’s not a whole team effort. That is something that we’ve struggled for a lot this IPL. We haven’t had enough boys standing up other than KL Rahul with the bat or myself and Mujeeb with the ball,” Tye said in the post-match presentation.

Team selection and a few poor captaincies call too have affected the teams chances. Out of form players have been getting opportunities repeatedly and Ashwin has also made some strange calls on the field. He did not complete his quota of overs against MI which was surprising as he was the most experienced bowler in the side.

“It looks [like a] fairy tale; it looks very easy [that] we come and do it [easily] in the last moment, but it is difficult. We were preparing [to win] since the first game but we were not able to close off games. Now after the half way stage we were able to close games, so that is what we’re focusing on,” said a relieved Bumrah after picking up the Man of the Match award. The win takes Mumbai to the fourth place and boost their playoff hopes while KXIP are almost out of the tournament due to the poor NRR.

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