Kings XI Punjab

Not many batsmen outscore Virender Sehwag in a partnership but Punjab's rising star Manan Vohra did just that in his team's victory over the Delhi Daredevils.

In fact when their opening stand was ended on 67, the 20-year-old had made 42 of them at a rapid rate, his second blistering 40+ score in just two IPL innings this season. 

With the business end of the campaign approaching, let's take a look at the youngster's career so far and what could lie ahead.

Vohra boasts a relatively modest first-class career average of 32.42 since making his debut in 2011, however, his skills seem more suited to the white ball formats of the game.

Strong off the front and back foot, he isn't afraid of hitting over the top early in the innings while some of of his leg side strokes also display impeccable timing.

One thing we don't know is whether he has the patience and concentration to record a big score with 47 his current highest total in T20 cricket.

T20 Innings: 16

Runs: 359

Average: 25.64

Strike rate: 152.76

Past

In his first ever appearance for Kings XI, he blasted 43 off just 28 balls to help his side to a straightforward victory over Pune.

And while he only added another 118 runs in his next nine innings, he had shown enough to the powers that be in the Punjab hierarchy and was retained by Punjab in the 2014 auction.

Present

This year he has had to be patient with the likes of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller smashing opposition bowling attacks to all parts and guiding Kings XI to the top of the IPL table.

However, when he finally got his chance, he took it, contributing 89 runs at a staggering strike rate of 228.20, while also producing one of the shots (apologies for the poor quality of footage in this clip) of the tournament.

Future

Now, with the regular season dying down and Kings XI certain to play in the semi-finals, Vohra is going to have an even bigger stage to perform on. And the way he has performed so far who would bet against him excelling?

Longer term, Vohra seems a natural replacement for Sehwag at the top of the Punjab order. But he still needs to perform consistently before higher honours head his way. Watch this space.

*The main picture accompanying this article is not Manan Vohra but a Kings XI teammate.

Despite the blingy kits and regal names belonging to its teams, the plethora of sponsors splashed across its shirts and the dollar figures attached to its auction, the Indian Premier League isn't as distinctly different as it likes to make out.

Lying aesthetically somewhere in the vast middle ground between an international football tournament and a World Darts Championship, the IPL is revolutionary in a conceptual sense, but not so in a playing one. The sport's core fundamentals remain pertinent in spite of the tournament's extravagant exterior.

That, of course, is evident in the continued success of players such as AB de Villiers and Mitchell Johnson in the IPL. The pair are recognised as the best in their fields in the Test arena, but there's an obvious crossover in the skills and thought processes from Test cricket to India's guilty pleasure.  

Yet in this year's edition, there's a strange phenomenon emerging around the Kings XI duo of Glenn Maxwell and David Miller.

In the Punjab pair's presence, something changes in their opponents. Colour runs out of their skin. Trepidation floods into their eyes. Ideas bolt from their minds. Recognised skills disintegrate.

Whether consciously or not, as they stride to the crease, the duo's opponents seem to continually abandon the basic component of bowling: Plotting the batsman's downfall.

Those who have watched Maxwell and Miller heap misery on the IPL's bowlers this season will have no doubt been in awe of the pair's fearsome bludgeoning. It's been brutal. Unprecedented even, given it's consistency. But it's difficult to dispute that bowlers are playing into their hands.

When Maxwell has arrived, opposing seamers have discarded a good length and persistently opted for panicked variations. Spinners, many of whom triumphed in the recent ICC World Twenty20, have almost immediately ceased flighting and turning the ball when pitted against the Australian and South African stars. 

It may sound absurd and almost elementary, but the men sending down deliveries to Maxwell and Miller have become so disoriented in their haste to limit the pair's scoring that they've forgotten to try and thoughtfully dismiss them. A total of 744 runs have already been clattered by the two, yet there's scarcely been a single threatening delivery among the combined 394 balls they've faced.

In short, bowlers have frenetically forgotten to produce wicket-taking deliveries against the pair. Thus, Maxwell and Miller have operated without the genuine threat of being dismissed, knowing only they themselves can cause their own demise.

For a glaring example, one needs only to revisit Ravichandran Ashwin's encounter with Maxwell on Wednesday.

The finger-spinner arrived at the contest with a superb tournament record, which backed up his sublime showing at the World T20 in Bangladesh. However, the second he was faced with the blistering Australian, all thoughts of claiming his wicket seemingly vanished.

Instead, Ashwin retreated, firing flat and fast deliveries at the batsman's pads from around the wicket. Sound threatening? Sound at all like the tweaker's wonderfully flighted and spinning deliveries that have claimed the wickets of countless batsmen of a better standard than Maxwell? Of course not. The 25-year-old duly put the vast majority of them over the fence for good measure.

A worrying similar theme engulfed Miller's annihilation of Bangalore on Friday. 

On this occasion, the impressive Yuzvendra Chahal had claimed Maxwell's wicket for a relatively cheap 25. Indeed, the audacious 23-year-old had done so by intuitively and aggressively chasing the Australian's wicket, rather than merely trying to quell his expected explosion.

Disappointingly, his teammates did little to follow his example.

As Miller stood in front of them, Virat Kohli's seaming trio of Mitchell Starc, Harshal Patel and Varun Aaron served up a forgettable dose of slower balls, half-volleys, full tosses and half-trackers. Just back of a length in the channel outside off-stump isn't in vogue, it would seem.

Of course, it would be foolish to overlook the breathtaking magnitude of what is being achieved by the Kings XI pair. It would also be amiss to suggest that an alternative approach—namely one that prioritises capturing the duo's wickets at all costs—doesn't come without its own inherent problems.

Yet  it's difficult to fathom the apparent absence of definitive plans for the dynamic batsmen. When watching on, it's nigh-on impossible to interpret how the opposing side is trying to orchestrate the duo's demise. A paralytic fear seems to grip the minds of Punjab's opponents.

It must be remembered that cricket's history is littered with such players, men who had won the psychological battle before the physical one had even commenced. The names of Richards and Warne perhaps best encapsulate the height of cricket's mental warfare. 

But in Maxwell and Miller, we're not dealing with two greats of the game—just two men carrying exorbitant price tags excelling in blingy clothes with a raft of sponsors on their chests.

Really, it's not all that different. In fact, it's the same game.

Wickets halt scoring in the sport's other formats. It's not too much of a stretch to believe they can do the same in the ongoing IPL.

Kings XI Punjab maintained their unbeaten start to the 2014 Indian Premier League season with a five-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore.

They recorded their fifth consecutive win in this year's competition at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, chasing down 125 to win with seven balls to spare.

RCB's star-studded batting line-up, who slumped to 5-4 in their last game, again stuttered as they were reduced to 26-4 in the fourth over.

Sandeep Sharma took three wickets and although Bangalore recovered to reach 124-8 and bat out their overs—which they failed to do on Saturday against Rajasthan Royals—it was not enough.

Chris Gayle marked his return to the IPL, after missing the first four games due to a sore back, with a bang as he smashed 20 off Glenn Maxwell's opening over.

However, young seamer Sharma got some movement off the seam to bowl him with his second delivery before getting a generous lbw decision to remove captain Virat Kohli.

After Mitchell Johnson had Yogesh Takawale caught behind, Parthiv Patel offered a routine catch to 'keeper Wriddhiman Saha off Sharma to leave RCB in disarray.

AB de Villiers and Yuvraj Singh put on 40 for the fifth wicket, but Rishi Dhawan removed the pair for 17 and 35 with Lakshmipathy Balaji bowling Albie Morkel (14) in between.

The Bangalore tail only mustered 27 from the final 5.3 overs, but RCB were back in the game after reducing Kings XI to 40-3 in the eighth over.

Mitchell Starc took two fine catches at fine leg in consecutive Varun Aaron overs, including the removal of Australian compatriot Maxwell—the tournament's leading run scorer—for only six.

Virender Sehwag (32) and David Miller (26) then put on 45 for the fourth wicket, but emerging young leggie Yuzvendra Chahal removed them both in the 13th over.

That left 37 runs needed from the final seven overs, and skipper George Bailey steered his side home in conjunction with Dhawan.

Kings XI Punjab top the standings with 10 points and next face Mumbai Indians on Saturday.

Having both suffered differing fortunes over the weekend, Kings XI Punjab and Royal Challengers Bangalore clash on Monday in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium

Date: Monday, April 28

Start time: 3:30 p.m. BST

Live on: Sony Six, Star Sports HD, Star Sports 1 (India), ITV4 (United Kingdom), SuperSport (South Africa), OSN (UAE) SkyTV (New Zealand), Network Ten (Australia), Channel 9 (Bangladesh), Sportsnet and Omni (Canada), Sports Max (West Indies), Geo Super (Pakistan), Starhub (Singapore).

Weather: According to Weather.com, Dubai should be very sunny and warm, with temperatures peaking at 38 degrees Celsius.

Overview

Kings XI Punjab are the last team remaining with a perfect winning record in this year’s IPL after they defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders by 23 runs last time out.

Punjab batted first but made just 132-9 from their 20 overs, with only Virender Sehwag scoring more than 30 runs.

However, Kolkata were stifled in response by Punjab’s bowlers, with Sandeep Sharma and Akshar Patel particularly impressive to keep them to 109 all out.

Meanwhile, Bangalore went down to an embarrassing defeat against the Rajasthan Royals in their previous match to lose by six wickets.

The Royal Challengers batted first but could muster just 70 all out, with only three batsmen reaching double figures.

In response, Mitchell Starc took two wickets, but the Royals had few problems in reaching their target with seven overs to spare.

The points table is starting to take shape in this year’s IPL, and both teams will be hoping to add to their wins so far to stake their claim on a place in the playoffs.

Team News

Kings XI Punjab (from): George Bailey (capt), Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Virender Sehwag, Rishi Dhawan, Shaun Marsh, Wriddhiman Saha, Cheteshwar Pujara, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Beuran Hendricks, Thisara Perera, Gurkeerat Singh, Murali Kartik, Sandeep Sharma, Mandeep Singh, Akshar Patel, Parvinder Awana, Anureet Singh, Shardul Thakur, Karanveer Singh, Shivam Sharma, Manan Vohra, David Miller.

Royal Challengers Bangalore (from): Virat Kohli (capt), Parthiv Patel, Tanmay Mishra, Yogesh Takawale, Vijay Zol, Yuvraj Singh, Varun Aaron, Ashok Dinda, Abu Nechim Ahmed, Sachin Rana, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shadab Jakati, Sandeep Warrier, Harshal Patel, Nic Maddinson, Chris Gayle, AB de Villiers, Albie Morkel, Mitchell Starc, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ravi Rampaul

Key Players

Mitchell Johnson

With his fortunes now much-improved after his demolition of England during the Ashes, Mitchell Johnson is back with a vengeance.

His efforts with the new ball will be crucial in restricting opponents and preventing them from gathering early momentum.

Virat Kohli

India’s No. 1 batsman in all forms, Virat Kohli, retains a very important role with Royal Challengers Bangalore in the top order.

Still in form, he will be looking to carry on with a successful start so far and pile up more runs.

A superb bowling performance from the Kings XI Punjab and some lacklustre batting from the Kolkata Knight Riders were the decisive factors in a pivotal 23-run victory for the Punjabi team in Abu Dhabi on Saturday, April 26.

Not one Kings XI bowler conceded more than seven runs per over as they defended 132; the lowest total successfully defended this season.

Sandeep Sharma’s excellent new-ball spell pegged the Knight Riders chase back early on, but the entire bowling attack contributed for Kings XI in a massively encouraging victory for a team that have thus far been winning matches through weight of runs, rather than frugal bowling.

However, they owe much to the ineptitude of KKR for their victory, with their fragile and confused top order succumbing for the second time this week.

Captain Gautam Gambhir, batting one place down the order at three, narrowly avoided the ignominy of four consecutive ducks when he was dropped on nought, but things hardly got much better when he was dismissed for one just balls later.

Indeed, Gambhir’s struggles offer a telling glance into the woes of a franchise that appear to lie in players such as Gambhir, and also Yusuf Pathan, being selected despite being far from deserving of a place in the side.

Gambhir is a difficult one, because he is the captain, and has been for some time now, as well as the lynchpin at the top of the order, but if he is not to be dropped, then he must surely slide down the order until he recovers form because time and time again his failures are setting KKR off terribly.

Yusuf’s position is far less secure—he has scored just 15 runs in three innings this season and with Manvinder Bisla waiting in the wings (who admittedly has only played three innings since IPL 6 but is a player who has performed for KKR in the past), his time is surely running out.

Yet away from the struggles of KKR, Kings XI were superb.

Sandeep, Mitchell Johnson, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Rishi Dhawan and Akshar Patel combined wonderfully, mixing pace, spin, guile, seam and swing on a pitch that became progressively difficult throughout the day. Johnson’s impressive blitz of the lower order will also encourage, with him appearing a little short of his best thus far, having been recovering from the toe infection that ruled him out of the World T20.

They were also supreme in the field, taking catches, stampings and run-outs. They certainly proved that they were not the one-trick pony many initially felt they were.

Worries still linger over the form of Virender Sehwag, who, despite scoring 37, looked out of touch, and Cheteshwar Pujara who scored just eight.

But generally speaking with the power available in the batting department presented by Glenn Maxwell, David Miller and George Bailey, one disappointing showing shouldn't force any changes—although Pujara increasingly appears an ill-fit, but he does at least provide some stability to a volatile line-up.

Moving forward, KXIP will hope their bowlers perform as they did Saturday, but rarely will they be assisted so much by the opposition and the pitch. Yet many doubted Kings XI’s credentials prior to the season, and their explosive batting has already changed a few minds, and their bowling against KKR will no doubt have changed a few more.

With four wins from four, few are doubting the quality of the Kings XI, but perhaps the biggest cloud hanging over them is their inexperience in crunch matches that they will face later in the season if they do qualify for the play-off stage.

They have only once qualified for the second stage of the IPL when they crashed out in the semi-finals in 2008. They’re well on the way to matching that this season; whether they surpass that may well come down to their ability to deal with pressure.

King's XI Punjab cooked up there second win of the 2010 IPL in impressive fashion against Kolkata Knight Riders.

KKR batted first and got off to an impressive start with Chris Gayle and Sorav Ganguly putting the King's bowling under the cosh.

Ganguly went for a very well made 36 caught and bowled off Ravi Bopara.

Bopara then went for 33 off a single over Gayle smashed four sixes in that over and along with some generous wides the total mounted up.

Gayle eventually departed for a spectacular 88 when he was caught by Bopara off the bowling of Theron.

Wickets were few and far between the only other wicket to fall was that of Tiwary for 35, Tiwary batted well giving the strike to Gayle and supporting him.

KKR's innings finished on 200-3 off there 20 overs.

The King's went off like a house on fire. They kept up and around the rate all through the innings.

Murali Kartik took the first wicket, that of Bisla for 18 with the score at 51.

The Sri Lankan was joined by his captain Kumar Sangakarra who himself impressed with a swift 38 off 22 balls. He was eventually out caught by David Hussey off the bowling of Shane Bond.

Yuvraj Singh joined Jayawardene at the crease, and both batted until the end.

Yuvraj ended up on 33 off just 16 balls he plundered three huge sixes and two fours.

Man of the Match Jayawardene finished 110 not out, he hit 14 boundary fours and three sixes.

This was a turning point for King's XI as they have been very satisfactory this season in the IPL let's hope they continue from here and push for a semi-final slot.

Sunday's match between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings will be cherished in memories of all cricket fans for a long time. For those who do not believe in luck; you should have seen this match.

Once again the Punjab-based side finished their innings with an ordinary total of 138/8 courtesy of brilliant bowling from the CSKs.

Then, came Patel and Hayden on the crease, along with Hayden's newly discovered weapon, the mongoose, and then their domination started till to his misfortune, Hayden got out after scoring 33 off 24 balls. Parthiv continued to bat intelligently, but wickets keeps on tumbling.

Guess, what would have happened next? The game stretched till the last ball and ended up in a tie.

The story does not ends here. The twist is no game can end up being a tie, so here is our super-over. An over would be played by both the teams, each with three batsmen and a bowler.

Tension could be seen on every face, be it players or supporters.

CSK picked Morkel, Hayden, and Raina for batting and Muralidharan for bowling. Once again Morkel and Hayden are on the crease with his mongoose.

Morkel is on strike:

First ball: A single taken by Morkel, strike is rotated.

Second ball: Hayden is clean bowled and the mongoose: Wasted!!.

Hayden departs, in comes Raina.

Third ball: Raina took two runs. Three runs on board and three balls to go!!   

Fourth ball: Raina hits a SIX!!

Fifth ball: Raina out!!

So now, Kings XI Punjab needs 10 runs in six balls.Sangakara picked Jayawardene, Yuvraj, and Pathan. Adrenaline rush starts again!!

First ball: Jayawardene hits a SIX, look at the face of Murali, his face turned as pale as the colour of his jersey.

Second ball: Jayawadene hits again but this time right into the hands of fielder, its a catch.

In comes Pathan, but Yuvraj will keep the strike.

Third ball: Yuvraj misses!!, camera focuses on Sangakara, finished biting his finger nails, now reaching his toes. (What? You have started visualising it? It was just a joke!! So back to the the match).

Fourth ball: Yuvraj strikes a four and Kings XI are winners of this match.

One could never have asked for more excitement this match has offered. This was what I discussed in my previous article: LUCK!!

It was luck because of which in spite of a small total on scoreboard, they defended it successfully.

They did it like Sphinx, which rises from dust once again when people declared that they are done.

Hope, the rotten run for luck is over for Punjab and now they are back in the game.