Transfers made – 0 (1); Transfers remaining – 42 (41)
Virat Kohli out – Rohit Sharma in
Siddarth Kaul out – Krunal Pandya in (combination fit)
Uncapped preference order: 1. Nitish Rana 2. Krunal Pandya 3. Manan Vohra 4. KC Cariappa
Captain – Rohit Sharma
KXIP – Fantasy Factors
With three losses in a row now, Kings XI Punjab will be under pressure to shake things up, which could result in Hashim Amla and David Miller getting dropped. Martin Guptill and Marcus Stoinis are the best options they have, but don't be surprised to see Shaun Marsh or Matt Henry getting in ahead of them. Marsh has the IPL reputation, while Henry will be looked at as an option to strengthen their bowling line-up.
None of the Kings XI batting orders so far has had any logic behind it, so it is pointless trying to predict what they will do. But whatever they try, it is unlikely to work against a bowling attack that is as good as the one Mumbai Indians have managed to assemble this year. I have, therefore, decided to leave all of the home team’s batsmen out, including Glenn Maxwell.
If you are looking for a bowler from the side, Axar Patel is obviously their best bet, but he will either be bowling to left-handers or good players of spin – and on a true batting wicket. The batting promotions that he got in the first couple of matches seem to have ceased, too.
MI – Fantasy Factors
As far as the Mumbai Indians are concerned, Jos Buttler is the only player whose place is in question. The England wicketkeeper-batsman wouldn’t be available for the playoffs either as a result of his national commitments, so it makes sense for Mumbai to get someone like Lendl Simmons in earlier and give him a good run.
Rohit Sharma seems to be finding his touch back, and with no wrist-spinners in the Kings XI team, this is as good an opportunity as he will get to put up a big score on the board. The only factor that would stand in the way of it happening is his batting position: No. 4 is way too low.
If the batting order remains as it is, someone like Jos Buttler or even Nitish Rana could turn out to be a better captaincy option than Rohit. See if you can find any clues of the batting order and decide accordingly.
Jasprit Bumrah has been disappointing in the last two matches, and with his no-ball issues still plaguing him, he just doesn’t seem to be worth it at the price that is required to get him in. Mitchell McClenaghan, on the other hand, is starting to look good and appeals to me as a differential if you can carry him around for two more matches.
Krunal Pandya has been pushed down the order as a result of Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya’s impressive performances with the bat in the season, and so Rana appears to be a better uncapped pick, especially against a side that is stocked up with left-handed batsmen. Manan Vohra should find it difficult to repeat his last match heroics against the Mumbai pace trio.
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