For a franchise that has waited for nearly two decades for an IPL crown, could this be the year when Punjab Kings finally create IPL history?
Mumbai Indians seek to maintain momentum against Kings XI Punjab.
Mumbai Indians will start as favourites when they take on laggards Kings XI Punjab.
The nail-biting win over defending champions Mumbai Indians was certainly a morale-lifter but the inconsistent Kings XI Punjab have another tough battle at hand when they take on table toppers Delhi Capitals in the Indian Premier League, in Dubai, on Tuesday.
Shaun Marsh guided Kings XI Punjab to a six-wicket victory over Mumbai Indians with an unbeaten knock of 68 in an IPL match in Mumbai on Sunday.
Kings XI Punjab will be looking to get their campaign back on track after a couple of defeats when they lock horns with bottom-placed Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League in Indore on Sunday.
The nervy double Super Over win against defending champions Mumbai Indians sky-rocketed Kings XI Punjab's belief and played a role in effecting a turnaround in their fortunes in the IPL, according to the team's left-arm fast-medium bowler Arshdeep Singh.
Kings XI Punjab pacer Sheldon Cottrell is unfazed by the mounting losses of his team in the IPL and asserts that the side will bounce back just as he did after being pummelled by Rahul Tewatia not so long ago.
Images from the Indian Premier League match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab at the Wankhede stadium on Monday.
Ambati Rayudu (34) and Robin Peterson (16) creamed leg-spinner Piyush Chawla for 27 runs in the penultimate over to enable Mumbai Indians snatch a stunning four-wicket over Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League match, in Mohali, on Wednesday.
Their bowling attacks struggling to find form, Kings XI Punjab and SunRisers Hyderabad will look towards their power-hitters to do the job when the two erratic teams go head to head in an IPL match, in Dubai, on Thursday.
Mumbai Indians enter the match high on confidence following successive victories over holders Chennai Super Kings and last edition's finalists Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Smarting from their morale-shattering seven-wicket loss against Rajasthan Royals, Mumbai Indians would look to put behind their disappointment and train their guns on a struggling Kings XI Punjab to return to winning ways in the Indian Premier League at the Wankhede stadium on Monday.
Sunrsiers' middle-order has hardly been tested and when the opportunity came against Mumbai Indians, the likes of Vijay Shankar, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda and Yusuf Pathan fell flat.
It was an exhibition of brutal strokeplay as the Mumbai Indians's dangerous duo of Kieron Pollard and Hardik Pandya tore the Kings XI Punjab bowling apart at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
From breakout heroes to forgotten names, revisit IPL stars who dazzled for a season but failed to replicate their magic.
Royals Challengers Bangalore will start as overwhelming favourites against bottom-placed Kings XI.
Images from Thursday's IPL match between Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab, in Abu Dhabi.
Still non-committal about Zaheer Khan's first appearance for Delhi Daredevils, Yuvraj Singh hinted at the left-arm pacer's inclusion in the playing eleven during the team's last home encounter against Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League in New Delhi, on Friday.
Sunil Gavaskar suggests Mumbai Indians should give younger players opportunities after being eliminated from playoff contention, to assess their potential for the next season.
Recent seasons show balanced performances with Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Prasidh Krishna leading the wicket charts.
Virender Sehwag credits Axar Patel and Mitchell Johnson for the victory.
Kings XI Punjab captain KL Rahul blamed his side's inability to defend a decent total against Rajasthan Royals in their IPL match to the dew factor
Kings XI Punjab have never won the IPL and Kumble has come on board to end the title drought.
Table-toppers Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to quickly bounce back from the disappointing loss against Delhi Daredevils and seal their place in the play-off when they take on a resurgent Kings XI Punjab in an IPL clash in Mohali on Sunday. Knowing that there is scramble among top teams for the playoff berth and holding on to top position is not an easy task, SRH will have to put the loss against Delhi behind and look to put up an all-round performance on Sunday. What has made this game at the I S Bindra PCA stadium even more important for Hyderabad is the fact that Punjab, which has struggled through the tournament, has suddenly started turning over a leaf under their new captain Murali Vijay, whose appointment was made mid-way. The Punjab outfit, which is lying at the seventh place with four wins from 11 outings, pulled off a comprehensive seven-wicket victory against Mumbai Indians at Visakhapatnam on Friday night.
Parthiv Patel shone with a breezy 58-ball 81 and powered Mumbai Indians to a 25-run win over Kings XI Punjab whose campaign turned from bad to worse in the Indian Premier League.
Punjab Kings set a new IPL record for the lowest total ever successfully defended -- 111.
Sixty matches (including the four play-offs) will be played over 47 days in the cash-rich T20 tournament.
Debutants Pune Warriors commenced their Indian Premier League campaign with a resounding seven-wicket victory over Kings XI Punjab at their home venue -- the D Y Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai -- on Sunday.
They might be set to finish IPL-8 in the last spot but Kings XI Punjab skipper George Bailey feels his side has everything to play for a win.
Back to their winning ways after sucessive victories, a rejuvenated Sunrisers Hyderabad will look to continue their good run when they take on laggards Kings XI Punjab in an IPL T20 clash at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium on Saturday.
The Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals squad members, who arrived in Dubai last week, will have their first proper training session in months on Wednesday evening, having tested negative for COVID-19 thrice during their mandatory six-day quarantine.
After a below-par effort against Pune Supergiants, the Delhi Darevils will be looking to hit the straps rightaway with their prime players set to comeback in the playing XI as they take on bottom-placed Kings XI Punjab in an IPL encounter at Mohali on Saturday. Following three horrendous seasons, the Daredevils have had a decent outing so far under Rahul Dravid's mentorship and Zaheer Khan's captaincy, having won five of their eight games and are placed third in the eight-team table. There has been no standout performer as such but contributions from most of the players in their five victories has made it clear that Dravid's men are certainly not dependant on any one individual to carry the team forward.
'RCB have a limited bowling attack but it can come good in the UAE as there are big grounds. So, I really think RCB can be one of the big beneficiaries with the IPL taking place abroad.'
Anil Kumble was also keen to retain Ashwin, who captained the side in the previous two editions.
Since the inception of the Indian Premier League in 2008, we've witnessed many a matches that have kept us on the edge of our seats. Norma Astrid Godinho/Rediff takes you down memory lane to relive some nail-biters in the history of the IPL.
Mumbai Indians lost their IPL cricket match against Kings XI Punjab by 18 runs.
Former Indian cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin spoke on running out Rajasthan Royals (RR) batter Jos Buttler from the non-strikers' end, saying that amid all the talks about it, questioning his character, he felt like "doing it even more" and added that other bowlers should also do it.
Lucknow Super Giants are set to receive a significant mid-season boost with Australia batter Josh Inglis likely to join the squad ahead of their IPL clash against Mumbai Indians on May 4.
The irony of being the lone Indian head coach in an Indian Premier League franchise is not lost on Anil Kumble who firmly believes that the piece of statistic is not a "true reflection" of country's coaching resources.