Kings XI Punjab have taken the extreme measure of ‘relieving’ David Miller from captaincy and have chosen Murali Vijay to lead the revival of fortunes of the 2014 Indian Premier League finalists. The Tamil Nadu batsman’s first challenge will be against table-toppers Gujarat Lions at Rajkot’s Saurashtra Cricket Association (SCA) Stadium on Sunday.

Even as the official statement by Kings XI Punjab stated that Miller’s dropping came at the back of unburdening the duel responsibility off his shoulders so that he could concentrate on his batting, it is no secret that that are seeking desperate measures to put their campaign on track. With only a solitary win in six matches, they lie 10 points adrift from their opponents.

The bowling has lacked incisiveness, while the batting has floundered time and again. With the foreign recruits, especially Miller and Glenn Maxwell, not in top form, it has only added to their woes. Whether a change in leadership will also lead to a change in the playing XI or will it also result in an out-of-form Miller’s ouster from it is a matter that Sanjay Bangar, the head coach, has brushed aside by saying,”David remains an integral part of the team and we look forward to his vital contributions to the team’s cause.”

Nonetheless, they arrived in Rajkot two days prior to the match to get acclimitized to the conditions, spent long net sessions on Friday and Saturday, and will be hoping to put up a more competitive performance.

Gujarat Lions, on the other hand, sit pretty with six wins in seven matches – two more than the next best. While there is no denying that they have been the best side of the tournament so far, three of their six wins have come off the last ball. The death bowling that weighed supreme at the start of the tournament, doesn’t inspire as much terror among batsmen anymore with James Faulkner, especially, proving ineffective. Chris Morris demonstrated a lesson on how to toy with Gujarat Lion’s death attack in the previous match.

If there is anything more worthy to be noticed apart from the points table, it is the chinks in their armour which are getting exposed match after match. But as they say, at the end of the match, the result is all that matters.

With the match scheduled to start at 4:00 PM, the afternoon heat should play a major role in deciding the outcome of the toss. Even as teams have preferred and found success chasing, captains would look to shield their fielders in the first innings.

There is no update on the injury of Aaron Finch. With Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum rekindling their partnership at the top of the order, it is unlikely that the in-form Gujarat Lions would want to rush Finch into the playing XI.

King’s XI have come up with the biggest announcement of this year’s IPL so far with the axing of David Miller as the captain. Murali Vijay has been appointed as the new skipper as the bottom-placed Mohali franchise look to change their fortunes in the ongoing tournament

Teams:

Gujarat Lions (From): Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina(c), Dinesh Karthik(w), Dwayne Bravo, Ravindra Jadeja, James Faulkner, Ishan Kishan, Praveen Kumar, Dhawal Kulkarni, Shivil Kaushik, Sarabjit Ladda, Pradeep Sangwan, Paras Dogra, Shadab Jakati, Eklavya Dwivedi, Jaydev Shah, Dale Steyn, Andrew Tye, Aaron Finch, Umang Sharma, Amit Mishra, Pravin Tambe, Akshdeep Nath

Kings XI Punjab (From): Murali Vijay(c), Manan Vohra, Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell, David Miller, Nikhil Naik(w), Axar Patel, Mitchell Johnson, Mohit Sharma, Pardeep Sahu, Sandeep Sharma, Swapnil Singh, Wriddhiman Saha, Rishi Dhawan, Kyle Abbott, Marcus Stoinis, Anureet Singh, Farhaan Behardien, Shardul Thakur, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Cariappa, Armaan Jaffer