Kings XI Punjab’s biggest strength is its captain Ashwin — a fiercely competitive and a thoroughly astute cricketer — who showed glimpses of his leadership skills a year ago and displayed it fully in the match against RR.
KKR has some advantage due to the presence of a few all-rounders, who may play crucial roles in the eventuality of a dogfight.
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Match-winner Andre Russell unleashing his muscle power early has given KKR a lot of confidence.
Even without Russell, the host has enough personnel — including chris Lynn, Nitish Rana, captain Dinesh Karthik and Shubman Gill — to put up a formidable total.
KKR’s enviable bowling department, with spinners like Kuldeep Yadav, Piyush Chawla and Sunil Narine, will stand the team in good stead.