Kolkata Vs Punjab- A Preview

Kolkata team started the tournament as a favourite but now it has fallen in a situation where every match has actually converted in to a karma yudh! After three successive losses the team is under great pressure to perform. Today as well the task is not going to be easy when they take on a fully charged Punjab team.

Yuvraj Singh led Punjab team has completely recovered from the jolt of two initial defeats. The Punjab team right now is on a winning streak. They are still performing well despite the exit of top Australian players like Simon Katich and Brett Lee.

Kolkata team now desperately needs a win in Mohali. After the initial two straight wins Kolkata team seemed to be the strongest team in T20 but the recent happenings on the ground have completely changed the scene. Three defeats in six days have a lot of stamina to shake any team in Cricket!

Moreover due to the last match against Rajasthan, captain Ganguly has already landed in trouble. Ganguly has attracted a fine of 10 per cent of his match fee for committing a Level I offence. Such happenings do have a psychological impact on the performance of individual players.

With the Australians and New Zealanders back to their countries T20 teams will have to struggle more for gaining the victory. Here is a chance for the least affected teams to aim at the top.

Though Punjab team does not have a quality replacement for Brett Lee but Punjab team still has good players like James Hopes and Luke Pomersbach. But the position of Kolkata team is really vulnerable.

Kolkata team is playing without McCullum, Ricky Ponting and an unfit Chris Gayle so the batting order appears a bit weak! Reinforcements Salman Butt and Brad Hodge will perform good or not that needs to be seen in evening! Ganguly and David Hussey appear to be coming in form and can save their team from a defeat.

More interesting thing will be how Ganguly handles the bowling side. In the bowling department, Ganguly has good bowlers - Ishant, Gul, Ajit Agarkar and Laxmi Ratan Shukla.

The teams :
Punjab: Yuvraj Singh (Capt.), Shaun Marsh, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Kumar Sangakkara, Yuvraj Singh, Mahela Jayawardene, Karan Goel, Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, S. Sreesanth, V. R. V. Singh, Gagandeep Singh, James Hopes and Luke Pomersbach.

Kolkata: Sourav Ganguly (Capt.), Salman Butt, Ajit Agarkar, Brad Hodge, David Hussey, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Debabrata Das, Prashanta Saha, Umar Gul, Ishant Sharma, Ashok Dinda and Murali Kartik.