MUMBAI: Now that the IPL has reached a stage beyond which teams can plead they are finding their feet, each side involved has to become serious about their cricket to ensure a place in the semifinals.
Looking forward to the rest of the tournament will, after the last few results, be a very different experience for both teams meeting at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali today.
Kolkata started their IPL campaign off in the most empathic style, Brendon McCullum ensuring a crunching win against Bangalore Royal Challengers in the inaugural game.
They followed that up with another victory against Hyderabad, and all of a sudden Sourav Ganguly’s team looked like the real deal, even if he and Ricky Ponting were unable to buy a run between them.
Since then, the cracks have widened. Kolkata have lost to Chennai, Rajasthan and even perennial losers Mumbai, and with McCullum and Ponting having bid farewell to the team, dark days are looming.
Punjab’s fortunes could not be more of a mirror image. The first two games were disappointing losses to Chennai and Rajasthan, but not that those two teams have shown just how strong they are, those results have been put in perspective.
What they have done even more to put the smile back on Preity Zinta’s face are consecutive wins against Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad. Kings XI will not escape the great Australian cull either however, as key fast bowler Brett Lee has also winged his way off to CA’s training camp.
In Dinda, Ishant Sharma, Agarkar and Kartik, Kolkata have a strong bowling attack that has fired all tournament.
The reason behind their woes has been the batting, and there is no ready replacement for the hope that McCullum used to provide. Laksmi Shukla has been a revelation, averaging 44 so far, but unless Ganguly and the high-priced David Hussey come good, Kolkata's troubles look set to continue.
Punjab can consider themselves favourites for the match; Pathan, Chawla, Sreesanth and VRV Singh have all bowled well, and the batting prowess of Sangakkara, Katich and Yuvraj has only been strengthened by Shaun Marsh's arrival.
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