Kings XI drop Yuvraj, bring back Gayle and opt to bowl against unchanged Sunrisers

Kings XI Punjab won the toss and opted to field against Sunrisers Hyderabad in an IPL encounter at Hyderabad on Thursday.

After a string of unimpressive performances, Yuvraj Singh was shown the door and has been replaced by Manoj Tiwary, who is making his debut for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL.  Chris Gayle quite expectedly got his place back in the side after a niggle had forced him to sit out in the match.

“The wicket seems to be pretty good. We have been winning games. Not really concerned about Finch’s form, these are quality players we are talking about. They are very important and we are confident they will come good at the back-end of the tournament,” said KXIP captain Ashwin.

Sunrisers on the other hand have gone in with unchanged side that defended the lowest IPL score of 118, this season.

“Looks like a good batting surface, we will have to put up a good score on the board. The surfaces have been different this season, a lot more challenging,” said Sunrisers captain Kane Williamson.

The two sides are meeting in the second leg this time around. The last time these two side met in Mohali, KXIP had got the upper hand and Sunrisers would hope they can turn the tables in their backyard.

Sunrisers Hyderabad (Playing XI): Shikhar Dhawan, Kane Williamson(c), Wriddhiman Saha(w), Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Basil Thampi, Siddarth Kaul, Sandeep Sharma

Kings XI Punjab (Playing XI): Lokesh Rahul(w), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Aaron Finch, Manoj Tiwary, Ravichandran Ashwin(c), Andrew Tye, Barinder Sran, Ankit Rajpoot, Mujeeb Ur Rahman