Blow hot, blow cold: The journey for KXIP so far
The IPL 5 campaign for Kings XI Punjab is at the halfway stage now and so far, the journey has been a mixed bag. They have been the most unpredictable team in the tournament so far as wins and losses have come in a disproportionate manner. After registering three wins in eight matches, KXIP have six points in the kitty and are on the eighth spot in the points table. It might suggest that they have been struggling but a closer look shows that just three points separate them from the second placed Kolkata Knight Riders and the tournament is far from over for Preity Zinta’s boys.
With no big names apart from former Australian wicket keeper Adam Gilchrist, Kings XI Punjab were one of the least fancied teams before the tournament got underway. The squad had the odd specialists in Shaun Marsh, David Hussey and David Miller but it was predominantly dependent on all rounders like Dimitri Mascarenhas, Azhar Mahmood and Piyush Chawla. A last minute injury to English fast bowler Stuart Broad, which ruled him out of the whole tournament, made matters worse.
The start wasn’t bright as KXIP suffered a 31 runs defeat in their first game against Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. It was the youngster from Mumbai, Ajinkya Rahane, who lit up the arena with a sparkling 98 and took Rajasthan’s total to an imposing total of 191. Punjab were never in the hunt and regular wickets hampered the chase big time as they finished up with 160/9.
Punjab next traveled to Pune but the there was no change in the fortunes. Batting first in a brand new stadium, Sourav Ganguly’s Pune Warriors set a competitive target of 167 for KXIP to chase. But once again, it was the lack of partnerships and loss of wickets at wrong junctures that proved to be a setback for the visitors as they fell 22 runs short to end up at 144/8.
Kings XI Punjab finally managed to notch up its first win in the tournament in their first home game at Mohali against Pune Warriors. Bowling first after winning the toss on a helpful pitch, Punjab rode on Mascarenhas’s superb figures of 5/25 and bundled out Pune for just 115. Chasing for the third time, KXIP had no problems this time as Shaun Marsh led the way with an unbeaten 64.
The winning run continued as Punjab posted a thrilling 2 runs victory over Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens. Chasing a not so challenging target of 135, KKR had the match all wrapped up with 13 required of the last two overs but brilliant death bowling by Praveen Kumar and Harmeet Singh snatched, literally, a win from the jaws of defeat.
The winning streak came to a screeching halt at home when KKR bounced back from the 2 run defeat and three days later posted a comprehensive 8 wickets win over KXIP. A disciplined bowling effort from the visitors meant that Punjab were restricted to a lowly 124/7 and an unconquered 66 from skipper Gautam Gambhir ensured that there was no harakiri by Shahrukh Khan’s men this time.
Royal Challengers Bangalore came to Mohali next and extended KXIP’s losing sequence at home. Asked to bat first, KXIP seemed to struggle once again but after a breezy 33 from Azhar Mahmood, debuting instead of an injured Gilchrist, they posted a healthy 163/6. RCB, in the chase, were reeling at 25/3 but a 131 runs stand between Chris Gayle and Ab de Villiers saw them through.
The focus was on the return of Sachin Tendulkar when KXIP went to Mumbai but a brilliant all round show from the visitors got the campaign back on track. A disciplined performance by the bowlers, especially in the death overs, restricted MI’s strong batting line up to a gettable 163/6. The batsmen then showed great composure and chased down the total with Marsh once again playing the lead role with an unbeaten 68.
In the return leg, Punjab racked up a challenging 168/3, thanks mainly to stand in skipper David Hussey, who finally came good and scored an attractive 60. In the second innings, with 32 runs required off the last two overs, KXIP had Mumbai on the mat but Robin Peterson and Ambati Rayudu scripted an amazing counter attack and took 27 runs in the penultimate over off Chawla to grab a four wicket win and leave KXIP shell shocked.
With eight more matches to go, KXIP will have to win most of the remaining games to make it to the top four. Even though there is still everything to play for, the rest of the journey will be even more tougher. Punjab, who are yet to play against teams like IPL champions Chennai Super Kings and the red hot Delhi Daredevils, will need to more consistent and make more of their resources.