Kings XI Punjab will look to get their campaign back on track after a couple of defeats when they lock horns with Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League in Indore on Sunday.

Like KXIP, RR too are coming off two straight defeats, but Punjab are better-placed in the points table (fourth) and have all but guaranteed a spot in the playoffs.

Punjab would have regretted letting Mumbai Indians off the hook at the Holkar International Stadium on Friday. Despite getting off to a strong start, KXIP captain R Ashwin tweaked his team’s batting order a bit too much, which led to their folly.

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The Rajasthan Royals are at the bottom with with three wins from eight matches. After a six-day break, RR have lost two on the trot – against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Daredevils. RR play five matches in the next 10 days and need to get some wins under their belt if they want to make the playoffs.

Jos Buttler will be one to watch out for on Sunday. Fresh from his 18-ball half-century against Delhi Daredevils, the Englishman will look to replicate that showing against Punjab. Skipper Ajinkya Rahane would himself look to score some quick runs and inspire his teammates.

Head-to-head

Matches – 15

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Kings XI Punjab won – 6

Rajasthan Royals won – 9

Stats and trivia

  • All six IPL matches played at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore have been won by the team chasing.
  • KXIP have won 2 of their 3 run-chases, while the Rajasthan Royals have won only 1 of their 4 run-chases this season.
  • The average opening partnership against the Rajasthan Royals this season is 10.00.
  • Chris Gayle and KL Rahul have put together five 50-plus opening stands this season for Punjab.
  • Yuvraj Singh’s strike rate of 91.42 is the worst by any player who has faced 50 or more balls this season.

Quotes

“We haven’t been firing in the middle order, but we expect the players to do well in the coming games.”

— KXIP captain R Ashwin

“We’re still in the tournament, so we’ve got to believe in ourselves. We believe we can win all the games from now.”

— RR captain Ajinkya Rahane

Squad

Rajasthan Royals: Ajinkya Rahane (c), Jofra Archer, Jos Buttler, Shreyas Gopal, Krishnappa Gowtham, Heinrich Klaasen, Dhawal Kulkarni, Ben Laughlin, Mahipal Lomror, Sudhesan Midhun, Sanju Samson, Jatin Saxena, D’Arcy Short, Ish Sodhi, Ben Stokes, Rahul Tripathi, Jaydev Unadkat.

Kings XI Punjab: Ravichandran Ashwin (c), Chris Gayle, Aaron Finch, KL Rahul, Karun Nair, Mohit Sharma, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Barinder Sran, David Miller, Andrew Tye, Ankit Rajpoot, Axar Patel, Akshdeep Nath, Mayank Agarwal, Manoj Tiwary, Yuvraj Singh, Marcus Stoinis, Mayank Dagar.

With inputs from PTI and IPLT20.com.