Kings XI face injury worries ahead of opening encounter
The Kings XI Punjab unit is under considerable pressure with a number of first choice players set to miss the game against Delhi Daredevils due to injury.
Led by new skipper Kumar Sangakkara, Kings XI Punjab will be looking to start their campaign with a win at home but it would be a tough ask with a lot of their key players struggling with injuries. Shaun Marsh, Brett Lee, Irfan Pathan and their start attraction, Yuvraj Singh are all doubtful to start. The team from Mohali were one of the strongest units in the first edition and cruised into the semi-finals but had a disappointing 2009 in South Africa. Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardena will be the key to their success in the present situation. Local players like Karan Goel Mohammad Kaif and Reetinder Sodhi will be expected to make valuable contributions with the bat. The spin pairing of Piyush Chawla and Ramesh Powar has developed into a successful combination and will look to keep up the good work. Adrian Barath will join the squad after the ongoing series against Zimbabwe.
Delhi Daredevils will yet again start the tournaments as favourites. The team has done extremely well in both of the previous editions to make the semi-finals but have failed to get past that stage yet. They will be hoping to get third time lucky and try to make the final on this occasion. Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir will remain the key to their success. Tillakaratne Dilshan, AB de Villiers and David Warner will make it a very strong middle order. Moises Henriques is a dangerous all rounder. Dirk Nannes and Wayne Parnell will make an incisive opening pair with the ball. Delhi also have some strong Indian talent in Amit Mishra, Pradeep Sangwan, Aavishkar Salvi and Rajat Bhatia. All of them have made some crucial contributions in Daredevils’ success as a team.
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