Mohali to witness battle of Australian strategies (Preview)

Dubbed as the weakest team of the tournament before the start of the season, the inauspicious tag seems to have egged the Punjab team up to perform to their optimum level. Outplayed in the first game of the season, Adam Gilchrisht led side has bounced back in an inspirational fashion to win both of their last fixtures. It needed two brilliant chases for Punjab side against two of the better bowling lineups in the tournament. All of a sudden, Punjab are a side with winning momentum and confidence on their side after doing away with the pre-season distractions.

Only into their fourth game, a star has been carved out of this side as unknown Progeny Paul Valthaty has been hitting the headlines similar way he is hitting the ball. Whatever he touches on the cricket field virtually turns into gold. He is been the main architect of both Punjab victories hitting a fifty and century supplementing it with a four-wicket haul against Hyderabad as well and has already been one who would be donning Indian cap sooner than later.

For Punjab, cricketing sense wise second win would be more refreshing than the first as former was scripted thanks to an all-round display with team excelling in all three departments of the game. Gilly is regaining his touch with the bat after every outing and likes of Praveen Kumar and Ryan Harris are getting wickets with the new ball following it with tight spells in the end overs. All these are the symptoms of a team looking in a relaxed and confident mood.

If anything, team management would want young players to make a move on and love to see their numero uno spinner amongst the wickets and not concede too many easy runs which he has done in the last three games.

It has been altogether a different story for Rajasthan led by another retired Australian legend Shane Warne. Rajasthan have receded from winning two games running to losing both their fixtures-home and away-to Kolkata and if that was enough their away game against Bangalore was washed out without a single ball being bowled.

There is no dearth of experience and talent in the side and what has dented Rajasthan badly is the fact that one of their departments has miserably failed to deliver in their two lost games. While bowling couldn’t defend a competitive total of 159 runs at home against Kolkata, their away game at Eden Gardens was lost in the first half only whole of the batting lineup was folded for paltry 82.

Injured duo of Rahul Dravid and Johan Botha are fit again and should lend some experience to the side and importantly some runs as well. Batting effort has been handicapped by the inability of their big and hard hitting batting pair of Ross Taylor and Shane Watson and youngsters have also not set the IPL on fire.

It is time for Warne to inspire his team mates to bolster the overall performance of the team. Spin wizard’s bowling has been the best he has bowled in all of IPL seasons and he is getting the ball to turn, bounce and more importantly controlling his bagful variations with all the precision in the world.

Thursday’s game will see an intense battle between the likes of Warne and Shaun Tait and the explosive opening pair of Gilly and Valthaty. It will also witness a battle between two Australian legends leading their respective sides who will be keen to out-think each others with their moves and strategies.

PUNJAB

Players who can make impact…

Shaun Marsh…Highest run getter in the maiden IPL season, Marsh, a stylish left hander, has a knack of scoring big and quick without much of a fuss. He can well prove to be a stablising cog in the middle order with his ability to drop the anchor and score at a brisk rate as well.

Praveen Kumar…He may not have the express pace to rattle the opposition batting lineups but has an ability to move the new ball both ways to provide breakthroughs upfront for his team. On a Mohali pitch which is known for assisting fast bowlers, Praveen can be more than handful.

SQUAD

Abhishek Nayar, Adam Gilchrist (c)(wk), Amit Yadav, Bhargav Bhatt, Bipul Sharma, David Hussey, David Miller, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Love Ablish, Mandeep Singh, Nathan Rimmington, Nitin Saini, Paras Dogra, Paul Valthaty, Piyush Chawla, Praveen Kumar, Ryan Harris, Shalabh Srivastava, Shaun Marsh, Siddharth Chitnis, Sunny Singh, Vikramjeet Malik, Ryan McLaren.

RAJASTHAN

Players who can make impact…

Shane Warne...With legend getting his leg breaks and googlies to talk, Warne can change course of any game. He has been the best spinner in the tournament so far making batsmen to search for his variation and has been successful in bamboozling more often than not.

Ross Taylor…Rosco, as he is popularly known in the cricketing circles, is yet to fire with the bat. But underestimating his capabilities and hitting prowess will be a big mistake. He can launch himself into the attack and with Mohali having lilliputian boundaries big sixes from Taylor shouldn’t be a surprise on Thursday.

SQUAD

Aakash Chopra, Abhishek Raut, Aditya Dole, Ajinkya Rahane, Amit Paunikar, Amit Singh, Ankeet Chavan, Ashok Menaria, Deepak Chahar, Dinesh Salunkhe, Dishant Yagnik, Faiz Fazal, Johan Botha, Nayan Doshi, Pankaj Singh, Pinal Shah, Rahul Dravid, Ross Taylor, Samad Fallah, Shane Warne (c), Shane Watson, Shaun Tait, Siddharth Trivedi, Stuart Binny, Sumit Narwal, Swapnil Asnodkar