Injured Axar says he is likely to miss next two games

One can gauge the faith Kings XI Punjab think-tank had in left-arm spinner Axar Patel, who was the only cricketer the franchise retained for IPL-11.

The 24-year-old spinner had to miss last game against Chennai Super Kings due to an injury in the left-thigh. Throwing light on his injury, this is what Patel said, “My left thigh sustained a strain during the game against Royal Bangalore Challengers. I got an MRI done which showed 10 percent strain. I reckon I will be fine after a few net sessions and match-fit after one or two games.” Aksar who has 38 ODIs and 11 T20s behind him, felt that Kings XI Punjab need to play their strength and not think about Sunrisers Hyderabad’s unbeaten run ahead of the last home tie.

In the last match, Kings XI Punjab fast bowlers struggled in the death overs and Chennai Super Kings led by MS Dhoni blitz almost took the match away. Mohit Sharma, Andrew Tye and Barinder Sran were clobbered by MS Dhoni.

MOHALI:

This will be a battle between KXIP’s exciting batting and SRH’s penetrative bowling. Not just Gayle, it’s the KXIP opener KL Rahul who’s looked in redhot form, blazing his way to swift starts and if Karun Nair, Aaron Finch and Yuvraj Singh come good, the home team can look to dominate any attack. The 26-year-old Rahul scored the fastest-50 in IPL’s history, with a 14-ball 50 against Delhi Daredevils and has been playing his shots with gay abandon. He was also involved in an opening-wicket partnership of 96 runs with Gayle against Chennai Super Kings that set up KXIP’s win.

YUVRAJ OF OLD

While Yuvraj has struggled initially, he showed glimpses of his past in the previous match and while he lacks in a bit of confidence, the team management has been backing him to come