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Focus on Sourav in Kings-Warriors' battle
All eyes will be on Sourav Ganguly when the IPL's bottom-placed teams, the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Pune Warriors, face-off today. Ashutosh Sharma reports. Match box
All eyes will be on Sourav Ganguly when the IPL's bottom-placed teams, the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) and Pune Warriors, face-off today. While KXIP have played fewer matches and still have an outside chance of making it to the next stage, for the Warriors, it is a matter of salvaging pride.
Pune started well with two wins but have since lost seven on the trot. KXIP have faced four defeats in a row with their last outing, against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, being the most crushing after Chris Gayle took their bowlers to the cleaners.
The bowling has struggled through the season with Praveen Kumar and Piyush Chawla being the most inconsistent. In the team's three wins, the trio of Paul Valthaty, Shaun Marsh and skipper Adam Gilchrist has held out hope.
It will be home-coming for Yuvraj Singh and he feels the team needs to change the trend. "We are a good side on paper but have to failed to translate it into wins," said the Warriors' skipper.
The spotlight is firmly on Ganguly after being chosen by the Warriors as a replacement to the injured Ashish Nehra. The southpaw can never be counted out and his presence could provide the necessary spark.
"It is good to have him back. He has a wealth of experience and hopefully he can help the youngsters and also give us the much-needed victory," said Yuvraj. With a wink, he added, "It feels great to have him playing under my captaincy."
KXIP reached the semifinals in the opening season, but since then the team has fallen back.
