Week 1 - Match 5 - Kings XI Punjab vs Rajasthan Royals - Both teams submitted

Welcome to the Mohali Stadium, home of the Kings XI Punjab.

Pitch Conditions = Overcast but clearing up over time. This will make the toss vital as the ball will swing more so early on in the day, however the pitch will continue to seam in the second innings. Some spin in both innings.

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Please post tactics below.

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Kings XI Punjab

Ganguly
Davies (wk)
Pietersen (capt)
Umar Akmal
Dinesh Karthik
Siddharth Chitnis
Ryan Ten Doeschate
Zaheer Khan
Stuart Clark
Rahul Sharma
Murali Karthik

Selection: Matthew Hayden is left out, as he has been known to struggle with the ball swinging in the past. As such, veteran Sourav Ganguly will open the batting with Steve Davies. Exciting young Indian Siddharth Chitnis is brought into the middle-order. The seam bowling is provided by the fine pair of Stuart Clark and Zaheer Khan (plenty of experience, they should really enjoy the conditions), while the experienced Murali Karthik and the fine young leg-spinner Rahul Sharma will look to exploit any turn on offer.

Batting tactics: Ganguly and Karthik are the two anchors in the batting order, though Ganguly will look to take advantage of the PP. The rest of the team will look to play around them. There's plenty of firepower there, with Davies, KP, Akmal and RTD all capable of scoring very quickly, while Chitnis has a remarkable SR of 175 in T20. Umar Akmal's position in the order is flexible: if we make a good start (60/2 or better) he will come in at n°4, but if we lose two early wickets Karthik will go in. RTD is the designated "late-over hitter" if things go well. Basically the batting order is as above, but needs to stay flexible (e.g. no point in sending in Karthik at 5 if we've only got a few overs left - send in RTD and Chitnis instead)

Bowling tactics: Zaheer Khan and Stuart Clark to share the new ball. Karthik will also bowl in PP. Middle-overs mostly RTD, Sharma and Clark. Zaheer (at least two overs) and Karthik/RTD at the death. If one of the bowlers is really struggling then Ganguly or KP could chip in with an over (if the spinners are doing well then KP, if it's more the seamers than Ganguly).

Bowl first if I win the toss

Rajasthan Royals Team:

Watson
Dravid
Ponting
Uthappa (w)
Suman
Menaria
Rao
Johnson
Warne (c)
Junaid Khan
Chahar

Selection:
Junaid, Chahar included due to the nature of the pitch. Both youngsters
will be supported by their captain, Shane Warne who is known for
getting the best out of his young players. Chahar has been in fantastic
form in the ranji trophy in the last season getting figures of 8-10 and match figures of 12-64 on debut. Ponting included due to his experience in bowler friendly conditions.

Batting
tactics: Watson and Dravid to open the innings with Watson looking to
attack from the start. Dravid will play slightly more conservatively but
will take advantage of any lose deliveries from the ageing opening
bowlers Clark and Khan. Menaria and Rao, who showed their six hitting
prowess in IPL4 are the designated 'hitters' and will look to come in
around the 14th over.

Bowling tactics: New ball to be shared by
Johnson and Watson who will to bowl short to Ganguly and swinging around
off-stump to Davies who struggled against the very same bowlers and
found himself dropped from the England team on their recent tour to
Australia. As soon as the first wicket falls young Ashok Menaria slow
left armers will be brought on to Kevin Pietersen. He will bowl max two
overs. Chahar and Junaid will be brought on when Johnson and Watson have
bowled 2 and 3 overs respectively. The middle Around the 8/9th over
Warne himself will come on aand his leg breaks are a test for any
batsman even though he is 41 years old. the last 4 overs will then be
bowled by Junaid and Johnson both of whom can pick out yorkers at will.
Rao will only be used of one of the other bowlers has a shocker. bowling
summary:

Johnson - 4 overs
Watson - 3/4 overs
Menaria - 1/2 overs
Junaid - 3/4 overs
Chahar - 3/4 overs
Warne - 4 overs
Rao - 0/2 overs

Rajasthan will bowl if they win the toss.

Team

Ganguly
Davies (wk)
Pietersen (capt)
Umar Akmal
Dinesh Karthik
Siddharth Chitnis
Ryan Ten Doeschate
Zaheer Khan
Stuart Clark
Rahul Sharma
Murali Karthik

Selection: Matthew Hayden is left out, as he has been known to struggle with the ball swinging in the past. As such, veteran Sourav Ganguly will open the batting with Steve Davies. Exciting young Indian Siddharth Chitnis is brought into the middle-order. The seam bowling is provided by the fine pair of Stuart Clark and Zaheer Khan (plenty of experience, they should really enjoy the conditions), while the experienced Murali Karthik and the fine young leg-spinner Rahul Sharma will look to exploit any turn on offer.

Batting tactics: Ganguly and Karthik are the two anchors in the batting order, though Ganguly will look to take advantage of the PP. The rest of the team will look to play around them. There's plenty of firepower there, with Davies, KP, Akmal and RTD all capable of scoring very quickly, while Chitnis has a remarkable SR of 175 in T20. Umar Akmal's position in the order is flexible: if we make a good start (60/2 or better) he will come in at n°4, but if we lose two early wickets Karthik will go in. RTD is the designated "late-over hitter" if things go well. Basically the batting order is as above, but needs to stay flexible (e.g. no point in sending in Karthik at 5 if we've only got a few overs left - send in RTD and Chitnis instead)

Bowling tactics: Zaheer Khan and Stuart Clark to share the new ball. Karthik will also bowl in PP. Middle-overs mostly RTD, Sharma and Clark. Zaheer (at least two overs) and Karthik/RTD at the death. If one of the bowlers is really struggling then Ganguly or KP could chip in with an over (if the spinners are doing well then KP, if it's more the seamers than Ganguly).


Bowl first if I win the toss

Is this OK gregers?

Rajasthan Royals Team:

Watson
Dravid
Ponting
Uthappa (w)
Suman
Menaria
Rao
Johnson
Warne (c)
Junaid Khan
Chahar

Selection: Junaid, Chahar included due to the nature of the pitch. Both youngsters will be supported by their captain, Shane Warne who is known for getting the best out of his young players. Chahar has been in fantastic form in the ranji trophy in the last season getting figures of 8-10 and match figures of 12-64 on debut. Ponting included due to his experience in bowler friendly conditions.

Batting tactics: Watson and Dravid to open the innings with Watson looking to attack from the start. Dravid will play slightly more conservatively but will take advantage of any lose deliveries from the ageing opening bowlers Clark and Khan. Menaria and Rao, who showed their six hitting prowess in IPL4 are the designated 'hitters' and will look to come in around the 14th over.

Bowling tactics: New ball to be shared by Johnson and Watson who will to bowl short to Ganguly and swinging around off-stump to Davies who struggled against the very same bowlers and found himself dropped from the England team on their recent tour to Australia. As soon as the first wicket falls young Ashok Menaria slow left armers will be brought on to Kevin Pietersen. He will bowl max two overs. Chahar and Junaid will be brought on when Johnson and Watson have bowled 2 and 3 overs respectively. The middle Around the 8/9th over Warne himself will come on aand his leg breaks are a test for any batsman even though he is 41 years old. the last 4 overs will then be bowled by Junaid and Johnson both of whom can pick out yorkers at will. Rao will only be used of one of the other bowlers has a shocker. bowling summary:

Johnson - 4 overs
Watson - 3/4 overs
Menaria - 1/2 overs
Junaid - 3/4 overs
Chahar - 3/4 overs
Warne - 4 overs
Rao - 0/2 overs

Rajasthan will bowl if they win the toss.