IPL9 2016-Kings XI Punjab vs Gujarat Lions, IPL 2016 Match 3 at Mohali

Kings XI Punjab vs Gujarat Lions, IPL 2016 Match 3 at Mohali: Dwayne ‘Champion’ Bravo vs David Miller

Gujarat Lions have a strong batting lineup, with Brendon McCullum and Aaron Finch set to provide a cracking opening combination. The bowling consists of Dwayne Bravo, James Faulkner and new-ball operators in Praveen Kumar, Dale Steyn and Dhawal Kulkarni. Thus this is a very strong team led by Suresh Raina.

On the other hand, Kings XI Punjab are bolstered by Shaun Marsh and Murali Vijay at the top of the order. Glenn Maxwell and captain David Miller (who had a poor season last year) will make up the big hitters. The bowling though, is more inexperienced than the Lions', with Axar Patel, Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma and Anureet Singh likely to play alongside the retired Mitchell Johnson.

The team winning the toss may want to bowl first, since this has been the method to restrict the opposition to a paltry score and win with ease, in the two games so far.

Kings XI Punjab Squad in IPL 2016 Match 3 at Mohali:

Kyle Abbott, Anureet Singh, Armaan Jaffer, Farhaan Behardien, Konganda Cariappa, Rishi Dhawan, Gurkeerat Singh, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Nikhil Naik, Axar Patel, Wriddhiman Saha, Pardeep Sahu, Sandeep Sharma, Mohit Sharma, Marcus Stoinis, Swapnil Singh, Shardul Thakur, Murali Vijay, Manan Vohra

Gujarat Lions Squad in IPL 2016 Match 3 at Mohali

Dwayne Bravo, Paras Dogra, Eklavya Dwivedi, James Faulkner, Aaron Finch, Ishan Kishan, Ravindra Jadeja, Shadab Jakati, Dinesh Karthik, Shival Kaushik, Dhawal Kulkarni, Praveen Kumar, Sarabjit Ladda, Brendon McCullum, Amit Mishra, Akshdeep Nath, Suresh Raina, Pradeep Sangwan, Jaydev Shah, Umang Sharma, Dwayne Smith, Dale Steyn, Pravin Tambe, Andrew Tye

Brendon McCullum vs Mitchell Johnson: Trans-Tasman rivalry is all set to reignite in IPL 9 when McCullum faces Johnson at Mohali on Monday. McCullum, who retired from international cricket after hitting the quickest Test hundred, will look to smother out Johnson. McCullum showed his hitting excellence against the might of Australian bowlers in at his home stadium, Johnson on the other is coming into IPL 9 without an iota of match practice and will need to be right on the mark from first ball to get the better of McCullum.

James Faulkner vs Glenn Maxwell: Australia’s most astute all-rounder Faulkner faces off against Australia’s most aggressive batsmen Maxwell during the contest between Punjab and Gujarat. Faulkner, who was in the news for getting thrashed by Virat Kohli during the ICC World T20 tie between India and Australia, will look to live up to his reputation as a bowler  (prime responsibility) and a batsmen later. Maxwell on the other had showed just glimpses of his hard-hitting skills the last time he batted for KXIP in IPL and will look rekindle his form and come out as the better Australian in this all Aussie clash.

Ravindra Jadeja vs Akshar Patel: Jadeja and Akshar have constantly being compared to each other as they vouch for the same position in the Indian team. Jadeja has been preferred over Akshar due to his experience and control over the ball and more importantly for being a much more aggressive batsmen. Akshar, who came into national reckoning after his IPL 2014 performance,will look for an encore again and make a name for himself again. Jadeja on the other hand will look to prove his detractors wrong, who have time and again attributed him as an under-performing player.

Suresh Raina vs Mohit Sharma: Raina will want to get  his good luck captaincy charm into the IPL as well after guiding UP to the T20 domestic glory in Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2015-16. Mohit has been Raina’s former team Chennai Super King’s (CSK) go to bowler when it came to restricting the flow of runs. Mohit will hope to mirror the same duties, when he turns up in the KXIP jersey. Given the fact that Raina has been off-color completely in the T20 World Cup, it hold goods for Mohit at any given situation.