 Pune Warriors will be facing Kings XI Punjab in their IPL debut game at Mumbai.
The Warriors are led by Yuvraj Singh, who led the Kings XI Punjab in
the first two editions of the tournament before he was replaced by Kumar Sangakkara
in IPL 2010. Kings XI Punjab have gone in for a complete make-over with
Adam Gilchrist leading the team this time. Gilchrist had led the Deccan Chargers
to the title in IPL 2009.
Click for Live Score Card of Pune Warriors Vs Mohali Punjab Kings
Sahara Pune Warriors, although new to the league, are a good bunch of
talent that is a mixture of youth and experience. Graeme Smith, who was
with Rajasthan Royals previously, will have an important part to play in Pune's
campaign. Australian Tim Paine is the specialist wicket-keeper in the side and
he might be opening the innings along with Smith. Pune also have the options
of using the all-round skills of Nathan McCullum and Angelo Mathews too. However,
Matthews is a doubtful started after he injured himself during the recently
concluded World Cup.
Callum Ferguson is another important inclusion in the team and the presence
of the likes of Yuvraj Singh, Manish Pandey, Jesse Ryder and Robin Uthappa has
given them the resources to form a strong batting unit. Pune bowling is equally
strong with West Indian Jerome Taylor and south African Wayne Parnell leading
the attack along with Indian aces Ashish Nehra and Murali Kartik and
domestic talents Kamran Khan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Personally, Yuvraj Singh
would be looking to win this game against his former franchise, after they showed
no interest in retaining him owing to his poor performance in the 2010 edition.
Kings XI Punjab have gone in for a complete revamp of their squad and have a new
leader in Adam Gilchrist who can win matches single-handedly on his day. Punjab
were lucky to get back Piyush Chawla and Shaun Marsh who performed quite well
for Punjab in the previous three editions. Punjab also have the services of David
Hussey, Dinesh Karthik, Ryan Harris and Ryan McLaren and this makes them a better
outfit than previous years.
However, the lack of a quality all-rounder might hurt Punjab's chances and
this could be the deciding factor in this contest. Gilchrist has previously
managed to lift the title in 2009 with limited resources and the team will be
looking at him this time around too. Another important factor that might go
against Punjab is the quality of Indian talent in team that is no match to Yuvraj
Singh, Manish Pandey or Robin Uthappa.
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