‘One off day doesn’t define who we are’ – Preity Zinta confident for KXIP to qualify for IPL 2020 playoffs

Kings XI Punjab’s (KXIP) hopes of qualifying for the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2020 playoffs hang by a thread. However, the team, captained by KL Rahul, are on a bit of a role, having notched a five-match winning streak. But their dream run came to an end after the Rajasthan Royals (RR) beat them by seven wickets on Friday, October 30 at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi.

After setting a target of 186 for RR to chase down, the KXIP bowlers couldn’t maintain the pressure on the opposition batters. In the end, Steve Smith and Co won the game with as many as 15 balls to spare. Chris Gayle scored 99 runs off 63 balls with the help of six fours and eight colossal sixes into the stands. He also became the first batter to hammer 1,000 sixes in the T20 format.

To his dismay, all those efforts went in vain. The Mohali-based franchise are next scheduled to lock horns with the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sunday, November 1 in Abu Dhabi itself. If they lose the game, one of the Royals or Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will topple them with 14 points.

In fact, RR and KKR will play their last league game against each other on Sunday. It’s also pertinent to note that among the three teams, KXIP, currently, have the best net run rate of -0.133.

KXIP still in with a decent chance

In the meantime, Preity Zinta, the co-owner of the KXIP franchise, reckons that Punjab have a fair bit of chance to make the playoffs. She believes that the tournament is still wide open. Moreover, she sounded confident that KXIP would park the disappointment of their last defeat and take the field in the next game with a new zeal.

She took to Twitter and wrote, “One off day doesn’t define who we are. We can still do this. Hope @lionsdenkxip can put tonight behind us & look forward to our next game. This tournament is wide open for a lot of teams so whoever wants it the most will get 2the playoffs. Fingers crossed #Ipl2020 #Saddapunjab.”

Here’s Zinta’s tweet:

One off day doesn’t define who we are. We can still do this. Hope @lionsdenkxip can put tonight behind us & look forward to our next game. This tournament is wide open for a lot of teams so whoever wants it the most will get 2the playoffs. Fingers crossed🤞 #Ipl2020 #Saddapunjab

— Preity G Zinta (@realpreityzinta) October 30, 2020