Injury scare for Kings XI Punjab: Details here
Kings XI Punjab have found themselves in a spot of bother in the ongoing 12th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). The northern outfit led by R Ashwin has two of its players suffering injuries. Veteran T20 'Universe Boss' Chris Gayle twisted his back and pacer Ankit Rajpoot has suffered from a niggle. Here are the details.
KXIP suffer in last-ball thriller against MI
KXIP lost against Mumbai Indians on Wednesday in a last-ball thriller at the Wankhede. Chris Gayle was at his destructive best after smashing a whirlwind 63. Gayle and KL Rahul (100*) helped the side to get to a commanding 197/4. For Mumbai, Kieron Pollard's 31-ball 83, did the trick. This saw MI rise to third position on the table with four wins.
'He felt a twitch in the back'
Post KXIP's defeat, skipper R Ashwin gave an update on Gayle. "He [Gayle] said he twisted his back. We have to go check and how he is." KXIP coach Sridharan Sriram added, "He felt a twitch in the back - that's what he said. We need to assess and monitor what he's going to do over the next couple of days."
Rajpoot suffers finger injury against MI
Meanwhile, KXIP pacer Rajpoot suffered a finger injury and despite that he bowled four overs. He almost defended 15 runs in the final over. "He [Ankit Rajpoot] injured his finger in the first over. It was a big bonus that we got three overs from him in the powerplay. We were a bit up and down with our fielding and catching," Ashwin said.
Missing Gayle will hurt KXIP: Our take
Replacing Gayle at the top could seem to be an issue for KXIP. The 39-year-old smashed a 26th career fifty in IPL on Wednesday. The West Indian legend also equalled Gautam Gambhir in terms of career IPL runs (4,217). He also went past Shikhar Dhawan (4,210 runs). Gayle has gone past 200 runs in IPL 2019 (223). KXIP will miss his exploits atop.
