IPL 2018: Match 38, KXIP vs RR – Kings XI Punjab Predicted XI

After having a brilliant start in the eleventh edition of the IPL, the Kings XI Punjab seems to have lost their way a bit. They were first defeated by the SRH when they failed to chase down a small target. Then, they had a small break. Everyone expected their players to come back strong and rejuvenated. But, that wasn’t to be the case. They lost the game against the Mumbai Indians by 6 wickets and an over to spare.

The Mumbai Indians registered a win against them to get to six points and take a big leap up the points table. However, it is important for the Kings to leave the defeat behind them and focus on the upcoming assignments. They will be facing the Rajasthan Royals in Indore on Sunday.

Rajasthan, having lost a close encounter against DD, will be itching to perform well. This is a must-win encounter for them and expects them to go hard. The Kings XI is still searching for the right combinations in what looks pretty much an unsettled middle order. We might expect them to make a few changes from the last game going into the next.

Here is the Predicted XI of the Kings XI Punjab team

Openers (Chris Gayle, KL Rahul)

It a no-brainer that Chris will make it into the XI. He will feel gutted as he failed to convert his start into something big in the last game. He scored a slow-paced 50 and will want to score a lot more against the Royals. However, he will have to be wary of the threat coming in from Jofra Archer who bowls a brilliant yorker.

KL Rahul didn’t have the best of games in the last two. KL Rahul has been the backbone of KXIP this year and has piled up a lot of runs for the team. He will have to get back to his scoring ways and the openers are the most important in KXIP batting lineup. Their middle-order hasn’t quite fired and looks vulnerable.

Middle Order (Karun Nair, Manzoor Dar, Manoj Tiwary)

We might see a few changes in the KXIP middle order. The middle-order hasn’t been at its best leaving the side with quite many problems. Had Stoinis not hit those boundaries in the last over, KXIP would well have been 10 or 15 runs less. The middle-order was completely exposed in the last three games and they failed to live up to the expectations. Hence, this might prompt a few changes here.

Karun Nair will continue to feature in the middle order and is expected to play with more responsibility. Yuvraj Singh and Mayank Agarwal might be sitting out for Manzoor Dar and Manoj Tiwary. It is high time that the franchise tests out Manzoor as they are placed in a comfortable position on the points table. Tiwary might get another go as he was made to sit out after just one game. Yuvraj’s failure might open the doors to make it into the XI for him.

All-Rounders (Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin)

Ashwin might have missed a trick or two in the last game. Firstly, Marcus Stoinis should have batted up the order ahead of Axar. Secondly, he should have backed Axar to bowl one or two overs more in the tough situations. Since Stoinis did well, he is most likely to be given another go. Similar is the case with Axar who didn’t really get his opportunity with the ball and he might get another go as well.

Ashwin is the third all-rounder in this lineup. He didn’t have much to do with the bat in the last game. He opened the bowling for the side and did well. Although he didn’t get any wickets, he was economical and gave away just 23 runs in his quota of four overs.

Bowlers (Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb Ur Rahman)

Andrew Tye is the go-to bowler for Ashwin in tough situations. He has got four or five variations of the slower ball up his sleeve and has a good stock delivery. He will definitely make it into the side and will share fast bowling duties with Ankit Rajpoot. Rajpoot picked a 5-wicket haul in the game against SRH and oozing with confidence.

Although all these three bowlers didn’t have a good game against Mumbai, they are still the best bowlers in the side. One would expect them to come good on most occasions than not. Mujeeb will complete the XI and has picked two wickets in the last game. He would want to be a little more economical for his liking and will want to put up a good show next game.

Here’s KXIP Predicted XI for the game against RR