IPL 2019 | Player Ratings - Chris Gayle and Sarfaraz Khan star to help KXIP secure 14-run win over Rajasthan Royals

03/25/2019

In a game that would be remembered for a long time in the future, Kings XI Punjab toppled Rajasthan Royals by 14 runs to help them get a couple of points. While bowlers did a great job, the original stars for Punjab were Chris Gayle and Sarfaraz Khan, who had a brilliant day out in Jaipur.

Chris Gayle (9/10): The “Universe Boss” is alive and kicking! Let him live his dream of striking the cricket ball like there is no tomorrow, and you will enjoy each one of those shots with a timeless experience. A terrific performance in Jaipur today.

KL Rahul (3/10): The Rahul paradox is one of the very complex realities of life and for all the talent that he has, let’s find some way to digest that you can’t get a clear understanding of it. A clear result of that was the uncertain drive attempt which was duly grabbed by Jos Buttler. A four-run innings doesn’t even deserve four rating points.

Mayank Agarwal (4/10): Although the Karnataka boy did play some very good shots to get going, his innings as a whole was anything but that. Lacked confidence for a bit and before he was undone by K Gowtham, he responded back to good length balls like the way one would do to red balls.

Sarfaraz Khan (8/10): A top-order dominated by former RCB players, Sarfaraz played an innings that would have reminded many of his debut season. He was confident in his approach and after playing second fiddle to Gayle for a while, he unleashed the fireworks to lead the team to a good total. Kind of performance his game demands.

Nicholas Pooran (3/10): So much talk, so much hype. But Nicholas Pooran’s first innings in the IPL proved to be anticlimactic. Only he can explain what he was thinking while leaving away Jofra Archer’s deliveries in the 18th over, which was almost like asking the bull to take him on the horns.

Mandeep Singh (6/10): Didn’t have much to do and had to face only a couple of deliveries on which he scored five runs. He is sure to get more game time as the season progresses and he can get into some sort of a rhythm, Punjab will have a top order worth fearing.

Sam Curran (6/10): It would have been a nightmare of sorts had he not dismissed couple of Royals batsmen at the end, but this performance should allow the franchise to have a look at their strategy for the season ahead. Should be the first one to be dropped once Andrew Tye comes back or rather I would trade for Varun Aaron’s pace with Curran’s promise.

Ravichandran Ashwin (8.5/10): Let’s get the boring stuff out of the way first. Ashwin was brilliant. Finishing with figures of 1/20 would generally make you the talk of the town. That will still happen though, but for a very different reason. While the Mankad dismissal of Jos Buttler was the turning point in the game, I believe that Ashwin was well within his rights, and laws of the game, to dismiss the Englishman. He might have won two points for his team, but he will get an extra one from me as well.

Mohammed Shami (7/10): In a game that had drama from the first ball to the last, one of the best bowlers in the game ended up without any wicket. Shami, however, remained the string puller in the game, setting up the base for Curran and Ankit Rajpoot’s death-over bowling magnificently which alone justifies my seven-rating point for him.

Mujeeb Ur Rahman (8.5/10): After conceding 17 runs in his first two overs, both in the powerplay, the young Afghan did brilliantly to lay his stamp on the game. Handed the ball in the 18th over, not only did he concede just eight runs, but picked up a couple of scalps as well.

Ankit Rajpoot (7/10): Helped his team be in a very good position with a couple of deliveries that would make any slow pacer proud. Proper deception with the pace and that made up for a lot of mistakes that he committed in the first spell. The redemption was somehow complete.