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IPL 2020 | KXIP vs DC: What Experts said as KL Rahul and Co. continue marching on the comeback trail

The comeback story that people were looking for, finally seems to be hitting the nail on its head in this IPL as Kings XI Punjab defeated table-toppers Delhi Capitals by five wickets in a largely one-sided affair in Dubai to gather their third win in a row. The best part of the wins has been the way they have approached the games in the last three matches as the teams that they have defeated are all in the top three of the table right now.  

Things have started to click finally for the Kings from Punjab as even Glenn Maxwell, who had for the last nine games been a mute spectator with the bat showed glimpses of hitting form as he made 32 of 28 deliveries. More importantly, he is bowling some crucial overs at the start as well, becoming the utility player that the Punjab team required. 

Captains’ Viewpoint

Reacting to the win, Kings’ skipper KL Rahul was happy that Nicholas Pooran batted the way he did and said, “When you play with 6 batters and one all-rounder, one of the top four had to do the job.” 

He further praised his bowlers saying, “Shami was coming in after some confidence from the last game. Arshdeep bowled two overs in the powerplay and one over at the death. And he nailed 6 yorkers.” 

Maxwell finally seemed to have found form and the 28-year-old skipper was also pleased with it. “Glenn has been batting well in the nets. He is a great team man and we know the balance he brings to the table,” Rahul said about his Australian match-winner.  

Having won three games against the table toppers, Rahul revealed the strategy that the team has been following saying, “The talk before the last couple of games was to beat two teams that were at the top of the points table.” 

Talking about the last game in which Kings played not one but two super overs, Rahul said, “I couldn't sleep after the last game. We could have finished it before and not allowed it to go into the super over.” 

“The game reminds us to stay humble. We would want to take the momentum forward and take it one game at a time,” he added underlining the importance of playing with gratitude and respect for the game. 

Losing captain, which Shreyas Iyer hasn’t been referred to as much this IPL as KL Rahul, felt that his team was about 10 runs short. “We fell around 10 runs short, but we got a lot of learnings from this game,” he said.   

Praising Dhawan, Iyer further said, “Shikhar's batting was positive. He read the wicket well, adapted to the situation, he went hard from Ball 1 and passed the message onto the youngsters that the wicket is stopping. He acclimatized to the conditions quicker than the others.” 

Further, to make sure that all the players feel positive after the game, Iyer also had a chat with domestic lads like Tushar Deshpande. “Tushar leaked runs but that happens to the best of us. I'm sure he will come back well,” hoped Iyer.  

“The good thing is that the boys will be charged up for the next game. We weren't up to the mark, but I'm sure we will be next time,” he concluded. 

Expert Opinion

Reacting to the three back to back wins for the King,  the experts predicted a comeback for the Kings Xi, and most of their comments were directed towards that only. Few also chose to highlight Shikhar Dhawan's amazing feat of back to back hundreds.  

Aakash Chopra believes that this loss to Delhi Capitals has come at the right time for them to tighten up the screws, where it's loose. 


Harsha Bhogle, a senior cricket analyst and commentator compared Kings XI's comeback to a car other cars' rearview mirror suggesting that it is now becoming a threat for everyone to buckle up. 


Senior Broadcast Journalist, Vikrant Gupta while talking about the progress of the Punjab team was happy with their three back to back wins, but also sounded the warning bell for them as the day's job was almost over. 


Former India coach and currently the coach of the Zimbabwe team, Lalchand Rajput was awed by Shikhar Dhawan's back to back hundreds at the same time also showered his praises to Punjab's Nicholas Pooran for the breathtakingly fast half-century. 


Sambit Bal, another senior journalist enlisted the KXIP as a serious outside contender and he did it because the Punjab team has its matches against teams of lower half now. 


Whether Punjab manages to travel from the last position to the playoffs is still to be seen, but with performances like these, they have surely created a buzz for themselves, 

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IPL 2020 | KXIP vs DC: Pooran assault lends KXIP sizzling treble

Kings XI Punjab have embarked on a giant-killing spree, registering their third successive victory as they oust both the front runners in the leaderboard - Mumbai Indians earlier and now Delhi Capitals in the 38th match of the Indian Premier League. Nicholas Pooran's gorgeous fifty allowed KXIP to stay in the reckoning for play-offs qualification despite Shikhar Dhawan's second consecutive ton on Tuesday, October 20. Punjab top-order comes apart at the seams Having kept their body and soul together amidst the Super Over frenzy, KXIP panicked prematurely tonight. Lynchpin KL Rahul slashed Axar Patel with fast wrists but his adventure of hoicking a gun-barrel six landed down mid-on's throat. While Ravichandran Ashwin's slanter, with no diagonal component, breached through Chris Gayle's fortress for a rapid 29, Mayank Agarwal stood victimized to a moment of absurd running between the wickets. Adding insult to injury, quite literally here, was the fact that Agarwal limped off the field. Pooran the messiah as KXIP resurrect More harakiri ensued, Pooran and Glenn Maxwell being the latest protagonists, although an off-balance side-arm flick from Shikhar Dhawan yielded the saving grace. Culpable of selling Agarwal via the river, Pooran settled accounts with an exhibition of dainty strokeplay. The naivety of Tushar Deshpande was easy fodder, cannoned for four and a maximum over cow corner before a lemon cut steered clear of keeper Rishabh Pant's airborne dive. Cherrypicking a highlight from his gamut of jewels is no mean feat, though Pooran trusting the bounce to cosh a fairly-decent length ball over long-on stuck out a mile. No heart-racing finish for a change ​The match-defining 69-run partnership was ultimately ceased by Kagiso Rabada as Pooran brushed a glove behind in a bid to sway aside a well-directed bumper. Maxwell discovered his groove after quite a rough patch with an ebullient 32 yet KXIP's uncanny tendency to mess up at the eleventh hour kept DC interested. And Pant covering a fair twenty yards to pouch Maxwell's top-edged shovel hinted towards another bottle job narrative. However, much to their sheer relief, Deepak Hooda and James Neesham wriggled across the helter-skelter environs and drove them home, the triumphant hit blooming off the southpaw's willow. ​Dead duck Shaw a non-performing asset Earlier, Shikhar Dhawan and Shreyas Iyer painted the town red after Prithvi Shaw's cheap dismissal, an episode which is becoming as routine at the top as the rising of the sun. His swashbuckling technique has for long been a double-edged sword and is now leaving him red-faced with each trip to the crease. The youngster found merit in blazing his way out of the rut, albeit a cue-ended miscue proved bread and butter for Glenn Maxwell at mid-off. Such is the atrocity of the predicament that however illogical it might sound on the face of it, spending some time away from the merciless heat in the middle would do his mental state a world of good. Hopefully, we'll yet again have the privilege of watching the factory of talent that Shaw is at the peak of his powers. ​Gabbar sets the stage on fire Dhawan rubbed his hands in glee at the notice of floater Glenn Maxwell opening the attack, easing a sighter through backward point before fetching six over mid-wicket with a top-drawer slog sweep. Mohammed Shami was the next man in the firing line, splurging three boundaries in the expensive 5th over. Dhawan tagging along his half-century concurred with Iyer falling prey to wretched luck, strangled down the leg off Murugan Ashwin. ​KXIP's weird obsession with Glenn Maxwell's sidekick off-break did bear fruit at last, as Rishabh Pant perished in search of a six over long-on. Undeterred, Dhawan rolled about his business with the sagacity of a monk and the resplendence of an artist. Until the previous week, he had zero centuries to his name in this competition and now boasts of a couple in his kitty. Better late than never. That DC wrapped up with a humdrum total left many scratching their heads, but its sheds light on the dearth of contributions from the rest of the pack. Dhawan bore the lion's share of the work, lending 106 off their eventual 164. What's next in store? Susatained glory breeds complacency, and DC wouldn't really mind a soft reality check to keep their feet grounded. As per Shreyas Iyer, it will only motivate them to take nothing for granted and rebound furiously against Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday, October 24. From being outright no-hopers to stealing three wins on the bounce, KXIP have ridden the crests and troughs like none other. And they'd aspire to keep the ray of hope flickering versus Sunrisers Hyderabad later in the night sky of the weekend.

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IPL 2020 | KKR vs RCB: Match Preview, Predicted XI & Dream11 Fantasy Picks

Two teams locked in the middle of the table, wanting to move up the order and get into the top flight before the playoffs, would meet each other in Abu Dhabi’s Sheik Zayed Stadium on Wednesday, 21 October. Both the teams are coming on the back of two very different victories; while both were close no doubt, the intensity and the path to their win could not have been more different. While it was the batting brilliance of AB de Villiers that won RCB a game which seemed highly unlikely at one time, for KKR it was the destructive yorkers of Lockie Ferguson that got them through against Sunrisers Hyderabad. Now it would therefore be an interesting fight between the bowling of KKR and the batting powerhouse of the Bangalore team. For RCB, It’s all about de Villiers It wouldn’t be an exaggeration if de Villiers is called the reason of RCB’s victory in this year’s IPL. The stats say this. In a total of the eight matches that RCB has played, de Villiers has scored four fifties and RCB has won six games. It was only in the game against Chennai Super Kings that de Villiers didn’t fire and RCB was still able to win it comprehensively. Therefore a simple funda for the opposition is to get RCB out early if they want to get their chances of winning to a higher level. Lockie Ferguson holds the Key for KKR Not part of the playing XI for the first eight games, Lockie Ferguson breathed fire in the first chance he got. It would have been puzzling for some considering the bowler wasn't a part of the plan despite picking 21 wickets in the nine matches of the 2019 World Cup, the last limited-overs big tournament played in cricket. In the game that Lockie played, he not only made Kolkata win the game, but also made the job of someone like Pat Cummins very easy and also complements others like Shivam Mavi. It is therefore important for the Knight Riders to complement Ferguson with other teammates especially bowlers. Kolkata Knight Riders vs Royal Challengers Bangalore: Match Details Match Number- 39 Date: 21st October 2020, at 7:30 PM IST, 06:00 PM Local, 2.00 PM GMT Venue: Sheikh Sayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi Broadcast: Star Sports and Hotstar Pitch Report The pitch in Abu Dhabi has shown that now the wicket is getting rough and porous as well helping spinners get a grip in the day time. In the night, as has been evident in last four games at that venue, the team chasing has won the game, giving evidence that the pitch gets better while chasing. Weather and Toss The weather in the UAE has been very perfect for cricket. It would continue to remain the same as precipitation would be zero while humidity will also decrease; making evenings pleasant with chances of dew coming into play, once again helping the chasing side. All this would suggest that the team winning the Toss would look to bowl first. Team News Kolkata Knight Riders The Kolkata Knight Riders finally found a perfect 11 as they won the match in the super over, however, there was one thing that needed a trimming is the presence of Andre Russell in the team. So if KKR decides to do away with him and decides to give him some rest for some games, Sunil Narine might make comeback after the clearance. Expected XI Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Eoin Morgan (c), Sunil Narine, Pat Cummins, Shivam Mavi, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy Royal Challengers Bangalore The RCB team would be going for the same team as there are not many changes that could afford to come up within limited constraints. Expected XI Aaron Finch, Devdutt Padikkal, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (wk), Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Washington Sundar, Chris Morris, Shahbaz Ahmed, Isuru Udana, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers Bangalore: Dream11 team and suggestions Shubham Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Virat Kohli (c), AB de Villiers (vc), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Shivam Dube, Chris Morris, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy, Lockie Ferguson, Yuzvendra Chahal Captain: Virat Kohli Vice-captain: AB de Villiers Powered by Froala Editor

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IPL 2020: Jason Holder disappointed with lack of racism discussion

The topic of Racism is likely to hit the Indian Premier League once again as the West Indies captain and a player in the Sunrisers Hyderabad team Jason Holder has expressed disappointment at players and team management not talking about the issue at all. He was also disappointed at players and teams not opting for taking a knee gesture before the start of a game in the ongoing season of the IPL. "To be honest I haven't had one conversation up here around it. Sometimes it seems it has gone unnoticed, which is a sad thing. I guess it's for us to re-highlight the importance of it, for people to understand what is happening in the world,” Holder said to the Cricket Writers' Club after winning a venerable Peter Smith award for outstanding representation of the game to the public along with his West Indies team. Notably, the comments have come at an interesting time as Holder was called in as a replacement for the injured Australian all-rounder Mitchell Marsh by The Sunrisers Hyderabad, the same franchise where former West Indies captain Darren Sammy had complained of subtle racism during his tenure as a player in IPL. He urged a better understanding of the problems that he and other black players face and the kind of harsh world they come from. He said that the inequalities that black individuals face are right there in our faces and it’s the education that can help eradicate this social issue of racism. "It's really important people understand where we as black people are coming from, and understand the harsh reality of how the world is set up. There are inequalities out there, some of them are very much in our faces, some are done discretely, but there are inequalities and I think it's just a level of education,” Holder added.