Having suffered defeats in their respective IPL opening encounters, Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab have their tasks cut out as the two teams prepare to do battle at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.
The Indians were comprehensively beaten by defending champions Kolkata Knight Riders by seven wickets on Wednesday, while James Faulkner’s all-round show enabled Rajasthan Royals to ease past Kings XI by 26 runs on Friday.
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The margins of defeat will be a cause for concern for both sides, though Punjab have a few more issues to take care of.
Punjab have some good batsmen in their line-up and a few power hitters in the form of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller.
But they need to sort their batting order and allow the top batters more time out in the middle. Former Australia batsman Dean Jones believes it’s necessary for compatriot and team captain George Bailey to bat higher up the order. Bailey made 24 while batting No7 during the chase against the Royals.
Sheron! It’s match day today! Are you ready for the game against MI? #KXIP #LivePunjabiPlayPunjabi pic.twitter.com/CH1zVTNPhH
— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) April 12, 2015
“I think Bailey needs to go up and bat at No3 or 4 and drop Glenn Maxwell down a little. It’s all nice if you’re one-down at the end of 10 overs with Maxwell coming in. But, all in all, they got their batting line-up wrong against Rajasthan,” Jones told NDTV.
Out-of-favour India opener Virender Sehwag was out for a golden duck in the previous match and he will need to find his rhythm soon. If not, the pressure will be on Bailey, Maxwell and Miller to do the bulk of the scoring.
What makes Punjab’s task tougher is the fact that apart from left-arm quick Mitchell Johnson, their bowling attack is one of the weakest in the competition.
Neither their other seamers nor the spinners look capable of tying down the opposition batsmen and that means the batsmen can’t afford to fail.
