05 May,2019 07:38 AM IST | Mohali | Santosh Suri
Ravichandran Ashwin
Kings XI Punjab had promised much but have achieved little this IPL season. The way they had begun, winning four of their first five games, it seemed they were destined for greater things this time. But just like last season, they lost momentum as the tournament progressed.
Their last game this season is against table toppers Chennai Super Kings today. And though the match is of little consequence, it will be interesting to see how KXIP skipper Ravichandran Ashwin does when up against his former team CSK and takes on the might of the captain he admires the most Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Though Ashwin says he has learnt a lot of his leadership skills from Dhoni when playing for CSK, he has not been able to inspire his team as MSD has done with CSK. There is no doubt that KXIP were hindered by injuries and that set them back a lot.
"Yes, we haven't been up to the ball this year. We had a few challenges going into this year and we picked up a few players [at the auction] and they've got injured. So that's not ideally how we'd like to look at it. We definitely put our best team we could in the park and we've tried our best," is what Ashwin had to say about his team's performance.
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While KXIP will be battling to avoid the bottom spot, it will be interesting to see whether Dhoni chooses to play or decides to rest as he has been recovering from a viral.
Also Read: IPL 2019: CSK will look to maintain pole position, KXIP to play for pride
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