The second IPL fixture on Sunday 8th March will be the match between Sahara Pune Warriors India and the Kings XI Punjab. The game will be hosted by Pune and will be the first one hosted by the Warriors at their own stadium.
Pune have won their first game of the Indian Premier League’s fifth edition in a comprehensive victory over Mumbai Indians, who had defeated defending Champions Chennai Super Kings in the opening fixture of the contest.
In the absence of regular skipper and influential batsman Yuvraj Singh, who is in a recovery process after receiving treatment for cancer in the United States, Sourav Ganguly was handed the responsibility to lead the Warriors.
Ganguly, who worked as a cricket expert during India’s tour down under, was not expecting this and there were a lot of questions being raised regarding his ability to continue playing cricket. But the former Indian skipper showed that he still has it in him during his side’s good bowling performance in the win over Mumbai Indians.
Pune Warriors fans would expect Dada to lead the team similarly against Kings XI Punjab in Sunday. Ashoke Dinda was the best bowler for Pune in the last match and the team will heavily rely on his ability to get early breakthroughs.
Meanwhile, Adam Gilchrist’s Kings XI Punjab will face Pune just after a defeat at the hands of Rajasthan Royals. The team from Mohali lacked the bowling attack to stop a team like the Royals from reaching a big total. And then, Punjab were not clinical in the later stages of their run-chase.
If Punjab are to open their account on the points table with a win against Rajasthan, skipper Adam Gilchrist, Paul Valthaty and Shaun Marsh will have put up good batting displays. Besides, bowlers like Praveen Kumar, Piyush Chawla and Harmeet Singh will have to provide their team with necessary breakthroughs.