Kings XI Punjab come into their third match of Pepsi IPL 2015 riding on the confidence of having beaten the Mumbai Indians at the Wankhede Stadium. Speaking to the media ahead of their game against the Delhi Daredevils, bowling coach Joe Dawes said, “It was a good win and got the momentum going. Hopefully we can carry that through the rest of the tournament.

” Finalist of the 2014 season, KXIP are looking at the eighth edition of the tournament with fresh perspective. “This is a new year. We have got a squad similar to last season’s and further strengthened it with the addition of Murali Vijay.

It’s got a lot of confidence, and lot of faith in its plans and its processes. It’s just a matter now of getting out and doing it, and we showed in that game in Mumbai that our processes worked really well. We should have won that game by a few more than what we did.

Harbhajan Singh had a day out and took the game closer than it should have been.”The team’s batting lineup is filled with some of the biggest hitters of the ball and hence the team is spoilt for choices. Discussing the lineup he said, “When you leave out a bloke like Manan Vohra, it’s a good sign for the team.

It’s sad for the player because he played really well last year and he is a rising star of Indian cricket. It’s a sign of strength of the squad that we have to leave a youngster like that out. I guess with Murali Vijay and Viru (Virender Sehwag) you have to play those two and then Wriddhiman Saha in the middle and then the three overseas players in there as well.

So sadly there is no room in the top six for another local batter. That means he will just have to work harder to get back and when he gets his opportunity he will be hungry to play.”While the batting lineup holds promise and has shown their mettle often in the past, two key players, Glenn Maxwell and David Miller who had taken Pepsi IPL 2014 by storm, are yet to fire this season.

However, with only two games played so far and rest of the batsmen contributing, it isn’t a matter of concern yet. “It’s a team game; we don’t just rely on Maxi (Glenn Maxwell) and (David) Miller. I think the fact that George (Bailey) has scored runs is fantastic.

Viru (Virender Sehwag) got some time in the middle the other night which was great. Vijay is a class act, which we have seen when he was with the Indian team. The fact that we can build scores and win games of cricket without those two is probably a great sign because we know that they are quality players and they are going to come good.

It’s rather that the scoring is shared around than one or two blokes doing the bulk of the scoring.”Speaking about Sehwag, who is one of the biggest attractions, he said, “Viru is Viru. He is my favourite.

I just love the way he goes and just whacks it. We thought it was boring when he didn’t get out or hit a boundary off the first ball the other night which is normally what he does so. He got 30 odd off 20 balls or something the other day.

He is not someone you write off. He may not be the Viru of ten years ago but he is a good player.” While the batting lineup is star-studded the bowling attack too has been creating problems for the opposition.

And though they may not have many international stars other than Mitchell Johnson, Dawes warns that they can’t be taken lightly. “You will underestimate our bowling at your own peril just because there is no other big star. Although we have Mitch (Johnson) here, we don’t have other big names like Dale Steyn or Ishant Sharma or Bhuvneshwar Kumar for support.

If you underestimate the young bowlers, you will get beaten by them because they are good cricketers.”One of the youngsters who has kept batsmen on their toes is Sandeep Sharma. Speaking about the young swing bowler, the bowling coach said, “He is a good kid.

He realized that he needed to add some variety to his death bowling and he has done that, although we haven’t seen that yet. And he has added a little bit of extra pace to his bowling. That he still manages to swing the ball at that pace is really important and that is his big, big weapon.

” While Anureet Singh and Sandeep have been regulars in the side, Shardul Thakur, who had a successful domestic season is yet to get a game. Speaking about the young speedster from Mumbai, he said, “He is bowling really well, which is nice. He is aggressive, hits the deck hard and he is been in the mix for the first two games but just (didn’t make it to the playing eleven).

Shardul will probably be someone who will fit the role in the middle, where Mitch is at the moment - bowling fast and being aggressive. So, if Mitch gets injured or we need to change our process, that’s where Shardul will get an opportunity. It’s nice to have someone like that in our stable.

”Speaking about their bowling plans in what is perceived to be a batsman’s game, he said, “I think it is an opportunity. You know they are coming hard and that’s the opportunity for us. So far the ball has swung and kept the bowlers in the battle.

We (try to) take as many wickets as we can, as early as possible and that takes care of the death bowling as well. We have got aggressive and attacking bowlers take wickets.The structure to our bowling (is) Mitchell bowling through the middle - coming in, bowling fast and bowling aggressively in the middle, looking to take wickets instead of that traditional just medium pacers stump to stump in the middle.

That’s the plan and so far it is working reasonably well.”.

Source: http://www.iplt20.com/news/2015/more-news/5954/dd-keen-to-bounce-back-mathews