KPL 2015 Match 20: Namma Shivamogga v Hubli Tigers, Preview

KPL 2015 Match 20: Namma Shivamogga v Hubli Tigers, Preview: Mysuru, September 12, 2015: Namma Shivamogga will need to get out of the reverie they seem to be engulfed in when they take on the Hubli Tigers in the Karbonn Smart KPL 2015 contest on Sunday.

The new entrants to the League began in style posting three straight victories before they slumped to two consecutive defeats.

Their latest defeat on Saturday means Stuart Binny’s boys will need to wake up, shrug off the lethargy and show the energy they exerted in Hubballi if they are to make it to the next round.

They have two matches to go including Sunday’s contest and their final opponents will be Mangalore United.

They did have their chances against the Panthers on Saturday, but allowed the game to drift away after having their opponents with their backs to the wall.

The batsmen need to put up their hands to be counted. Sadiq seems to be the only batsman who has been consistent while the team management has tinkered with his partners.

The skipper himself has not done much and Shreyas Gopal has been a tad unlucky.

With the team capable of chasing big totals, there is no reason why they cannot set big targets as well. The bowlers have done their best and it is the belief of the skipper and coach that the batsmen can live up to expectations on the morrow.

Hubli Tigers are gracing the lower half of the points table, having lost two contests, won one and shared points in another.

They will be without the services of skipper Sreenath Arvind as he joins the India ‘A’ team to take on Bangladesh ‘A’ in three ODIs in Bangalore . Kunal Kapoor will take over the mantle and the team will be hoping that their luck changes with the change in leadership.

With three points from four matches, the Tigers face a must win situation in the rest of their three matches if they are to have any chance of qualifying.

“We need to get our bowling right. We need to hit the right areas and restrict the opposition”, opined Team CEO, Anutosh Poll.

Teams (from):

Hubli Tigers: Sreenath Aravind (C), K.L.Rahul, Akshay S L, Kranthi Kumar, Pawan K B, Naveen B, Shashi Shekar, Prateek Jain, Chetan John Williams, Kiran A M, Suraj Sampath, Kunal Kapoor, Shivil  Koushik, Dikshanshu Negi, Mohammad Taha, Rohan Raju, Nishanth Shekhawat, Abhinav Manohar, Aditya H N, Nithin Bhille

Namma Shivamogga: Stuart Binny (Capt), Sadiq Kirmani, Abrar Kazi, D Raghavendra, Hoysala K, Aditya B Sagar, Vijay Kumar HR, Daivik Vishwanath, Siddarth KV, Vikram Venkatesh, Shreyas Gopal, Sinan Abdul Kader, Milind Ramesh, Samrath Ooty, Dinesh Borwankar, Mir Kunian Abbas, Pradeep Gangadhar, Bhuvesh, Murali Krishna and Darshan.