IPL 2017 Fantasy Tips: Kings XI Punjab vs Kolkata Knight Riders

Transfers made – 2; Transfers remaining – 6

David Warner out - Chris Lynn in

Rohit Sharma out – Sunil Narine in/ (if Kuldeep Yadav doesn’t play) Martin Guptill in

(Uncapped) Mohammed Siraj out – Manan Vohra in

Differential – Gautam Gambhir

Captain – Chris Lynn

It is not going to be easy picking players today, especially if Robin Uthappa comes back into the Kolkata Knight Riders playing XI. With the Chris Lynn-Sunil Narine combination working wonders against Royal Challengers Bangalore, the team management would want to stick with the two at the top, which will result in Gautam Gambhir and Uthappa batting at No. 3 and No. 4 respectively.

Against a bowling attack like Kings XI Punjab, which has blown hot and cold, this could go in any direction. I don’t think it makes much sense leaving Lynn out, either way, so he gets in as the first pick for the game. Gambhir could get you an easy 50, as it is just a matter of one wicket, but Uthappa is going to be touch-and-go. If the 31-year-old comes in early, he is going to make you pay for not having him with the kind of form he is in.

Extra Cover: IPL 2017, KKR vs KXIP Match Prediction

Kings XI batting first could give us some logic to work with, though. There is a good chance that, in the absence of Hashim Amla, they could be restricted to a sub-160 score, the majority of which can be chased down by the top 3. In such a scenario, Uthappa wouldn’t be able to cause much damage. For my team, however, with two KKR batsmen already in, he is not even an option that I can consider.

Guru’s team for KXIP vs KKR

Manish Pandey at No. 5 is simply not worth it, which leaves us with only Narine to be discussed from the Knight Riders unit. The West Indian will keep contributing with the bat as long as he doesn’t face any of Delhi Daredevils (4), Sunrisers Hyderabad (6 and 1) or Mumbai Indians (yet to open) – the three best bowling sides of this IPL.

While Sandeep Sharma has inspired a couple of top-class bowling performances of late, Kings XI have mostly been mediocre. Add to it the fact that Narine bowls his full quota of overs against a shaky batting unit, he could be an easy 100-pointer.

Coming to Kings XI, a lot will depend on whether or not the Knight Riders bring back Kuldeep Yadav. If they do, Martin Guptill is ruled out right away, as facing the chinaman on top of an already decent bowling attack could turn out to be too big an ask for the Kiwi. Maxwell has always found it difficult against the Knight Riders bowling unit, so you are left with Shaun Marsh being the best KXIP bet.

At this stage of the tournament, I do not want to waste a substitute on a specialist bowler, especially with Axar Patel already in, so that rules Sandeep Sharma out. If you have more than 13 transfers, you can bring him in, but make sure to carry him till his last match.