After three days rest, the rejuvenated Kings XI Punjab are up against Virat Kohli’s Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday at Sharjah. With every game becoming do or die for KL Rahul, Kings XI Punjab will look to turn the things around in the 31st match of the season.
For the team, everything has failed systematically. The fast bowling has lost its sheen whereas the spin bowling has failed to restrict the opposition. The batting has revolved around KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal and others have failed to leave an impression.
In their previous game, against Kolkata Knight Riders, the team was on the brink of a victory with KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal laying the proper foundation. However, the team bottled the game and lost by two runs. KL Rahul will look for consistent team performance against his previous employers, RCB.
Here are the top three picks for Kings XI Punjab when they face a high-flying Virat Kohli led-side on Thursday:
#1) KL Rahul
The captain of the side, KL Rahul has outperformed not only his colleagues but also his counterparts. KL Rahul is the current holder of Orange Cap with 387 runs to his name. However, the Orange Cap has not yielded the success to his team as they have only one victory. The one victory that they have in their kitty has come against RCB on 24th September 2020 after which they failed to get a victory.
That happened in our last outing 🆚 #RCB
❤️ if you wanna see it again tonight!#SaddaPunjab #IPL2020 #KXIP #RCBvKXIP @klrahul11 pic.twitter.com/KS9qQA9Hhg
— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) October 15, 2020
Against RCB in the reverse fixture, Rahul played a spectacular knock with an astonishing 49 runs from the last two overs. With time ticking, Rahul will look to overcome the problems and start their victory march.
#2) Chris Gayle
The Jamaican player was absent from the playing XI for seven games and will return against his previous employers Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday. The overseas players for KXIP haven’t fared well till now and Chris Gayle will look to provide impetus with an explosive inning at Sharjah.
Chris Gayle has been in this situation with RCB too in the past and will know what the team requires from him. Chris Gayle will look to deliver on Thursday and will be one of the top three picks for Kings XI Punjab.
#3) Nicholas Pooran
Despite having a poor start to the tournament, Nicholas Pooran is slowly turning into a key player for KXIP. He has 212 runs from seven games with the best score of 77 against Sunrisers Hyderabad. He has averaged 35.33 with a strike rate of 176.66. Nicholas Pooran will be one of the top three picks for Kings XI Punjab against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
Nicholas Pooran was guilty of giving his wicket against KKR in their previous game which led to the downfall of Kings XI Punjab. He will look to get his team back to winning ways against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
