Kings XI Punjab won the toss and decided to field first against Delhi Daredevils in the second match of the Indian Premier League at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali.
Here is what the captains said:
Gautam Gambhir:
“It’s great coming back home. Hopefully we can turn it around. Hopefully all of us together can. It’s just about trying to implement what we want to do on the field. We’re playing Munro, Christian, Morris and Boult.”
Ravichandran Ashwin:
“We will be fielding first. Playing the IPL, which is one of the marquee events, and I am very happy. We have a lot of international experience. It’s a new start. A decade if IPL is gone by and the franchises are looking to build a new culture. We’re playing Stoinis, Miller, Zadran and Tye as our four overseas players.”
Preview:
Both the teams will be looking to start the season on a winning note. Both the teams are the perennial underachievers in the league, having never won the the title in the ten editions so far. Ahead of the eleventh season, both the teams have assembled a solid squad and would be hoping that a new decade changes their fortunes.
In Gautam Gambhir, Daredevils have a two-time IPL winning captain while R Ashwin is also no stranger to winning titles, having won two titles with Chennai Super Kings. Both the teams are looking solid on paper and one expect another cracker of a game.
Here is the playing eleven of both teams:
Kings XI Punjab:
Lokesh Rahul(w), Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Yuvraj Singh, David Miller, Marcus Stoinis, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Andrew Tye, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb Ur Rahman
Delhi Daredevils:
Gautam Gambhir(c), Colin Munro, Rishabh Pant(w), Shreyas Iyer, Chris Morris, Vijay Shankar, Daniel Christian, Rahul Tewatia, Amit Mishra, Trent Boult, Mohammed Shami