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Chargers needs something special

V. V. Subrahmanyam

Knight Riders would be keen to do well again

— Photo: H. Satish

CENTRE OF ATTENTION: The big question on everyone’s mind is whether Shoaib Akhtar will be in the playing XI for Kolkata Knight Riders against Deccan Chargers.

HYDERABAD: Deccan Chargers was one of the favourites when the DLF-Indian Premier League began. Now it is on the brink of elimination.

It must have been a harrowing experience for V.V.S. Laxman to see his team suffer six defeats in eight matches. It has certainly not been the kind of run the captain would have expected.

Chargers, after the demoralising loss against Rajasthan Royals at Jaipur on Friday, will have its task cut out on Sunday against Kolkata Knight Riders, fresh from its morale-boosting win over Royal Challengers Bangalore on Thursday.

Chargers has to come up with a special performance if it has to correct its record of not winning any of the three matches at home so far. Moreover, the team has to win all its remaining matches and also hope that the other contenders lose crucial games. Chargers’ think tank must be working overtime to come up with a strategy to reverse the losing trend.

Key players

For Chargers, the outcome of Sunday’s game will depend on the key players — Adam Gilchrist (284 runs from eight games), Herschelle Gibbs (41 from four) and Shahid Afridi (47 from seven). If they click, Chargers can put pressure on its opponent. It is Rohit Sharma (263 from eight) who has made a significant contribution in this formidable yet inconsistent line-up.

On what looks like a perfect batting strip again, Laxman reiterated that batting was his team’s strength. He also hoped that his leading bowlers — Rudra Pratap Singh (11 wickets) and leg-spinner Afridi (seven) — will be backed up well by the support cast.

The good news for Chargers is that Chaminda Vaas has rejoined the team after being away for a short time for personal reasons. There are indications that Laxman is still a doubtful starter.

Knight Riders, with three victories from seven outings, will be determined to do well again. Sourav Ganguly, whose splendid spell in the middle overs earned him the man of the match award on Thursday, would not want to take any chances on a good batting track. He would be expecting early breakthroughs from his bowling spearhead Ishant Sharma.

For the visitor, David Hussey will play a big role once again. Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Wriddhiman Saha and Salman Butt all have the potential to change the course of the match with the willow.

The teams (from):

Deccan Chargers: V.V.S. Laxman (Capt.), Adam Gilchrist, Herschelle Gibbs, Scott Styris, Rohit Sharma, Shahid Afridi, Sanjay Bangar, R.P. Singh, Arjun Yadav, D. Kalyankrishna, Pragyan Ojha, Chamara Silva, Chaminda Vaas, Nuwan Zoysa, D.B. Ravi Teja, Sarvesh Kumar, Venugopala Rao and P. Vijaykumar.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Sourav Ganguly (Capt.), Aakash Chopra, Salman Butt, David Hussey, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Tatenda Taibu, Debabrata Das, Ajit Agarkar, Ashok Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Murali Kartik and Wriddhiman Saha.

Match starts at 4.00 p.m.

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