Struggling KXIP look to turn around fortunes against Bhuvneshwar-less Sunrisers
Dubai: Their bowling attacks struggling to find form, Kings XI Punjab and Sunrisers Hyderabad will look towards their power-hitters to do the job when the two erratic teams go head to head in an IPL match here on Thursday.
KXIP are currently languishing at the bottom of the table after losing four of their five games, while SRH is only slightly better at sixth following two wins and three losses so far.
KXIP's strength has been in a formidable opening duo. Skipper KL Rahul has been in scintillating form this year, scoring two fifties and a century, while Mayank Agarwal also has a half-century and a ton to his credit. The two have done the heavy-lifting for the team.
Nicholas Pooran has also looked sharp but Glenn Maxwell is yet to fire.
But despite the solid batting performances, KXIP has been unable to win because of their disappointing bowling attack. Apart from Mohammed Shami, all the other bowlers have failed to take wickets, conceding far too many runs in death overs.
They were unable to defend 223 against Rajasthan. In their 10-wicket loss in the previous outing, KXIP bowlers were at their wit's end as Chennai Super Kings overhauled a 178-run target with 14 balls and 10 wickets to spare.
And come Thursday, Sunrisers, who are blessed with a strong top-order comprising Jonny Bairstow, David Warner, Manish Pandey, and Kane Williamson, will look to exploit a low-on-confidence KXIP's bowling unit.
Warner and his men were handed a 34-run defeat by the Mumbai Indians on Sunday.
Having lost their opening two games due to the middle order, Sunrisers addressed the issue by bringing in Williamson to the playing XI at the expense of an all-round option.
Skipper Warner backed youngsters Abhishek Sharma and Abdul Samad to fill in for the fifth bowler and the risk paid off as the former champions won two games on the trot.
However, the Orange Army was dealt a massive blow when senior paacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar was ruled out of the tournament with a thigh muscle injury.
In Bhuvneshwar's absence, Sunrisers struggled with their bowling. Apart from T Natarajan, pacers Sandeep Sharma and Siddarth Kaul leaked runs.
Samad was also expensive, which led Warner to turn to Williamson to bowl two overs of off-spin against Mumbai.
Going ahead, there will be added pressure on yorker specialist Natarajan and star spinner Rashid Khan.
Sunrisers face the conundrum of either providing stability in the middle order or strengthening their bowling attack.
They have the option of playing experienced Afghan all-rounder Mohammad Nabi or West Indies' Fabian Allen but that would mean Willamson will have to sit out.
Teams (from):
Sunrisers Hyderabad: David Warner (c), Jonny Bairstow, Kane Williamson, Manish Pandey, Shreevats Goswami, Virat Singh, Priyam Garg, Wriddhiman Saha, Abdul Samad, Vijay Shankar, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Jason Holder, Abhishek Sharma, B Sandeep, Sanjay Yadav, Fabian Allen, Prithvi Raj Yarra, Khaleel Ahmed, Sandeep Sharma, Shahbaz Nadeem, Siddharth Kaul, Billy Stanlake, T Natarajan, Basil Thampi.
Kings XI Punjab: KL Rahul (c), Mayank Agarwal, Sheldon Cottrell, Chris Gayle, Glenn Maxwell, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Karun Nair, James Neesham, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Ishan Porel, Arshdeep Singh, Murugan Ashwin, Krishnappa Gowtham, Harpreet Brar, Deepak Hooda, Chris Jordan, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Darshan Nalkande, Ravi Bishnoi, Simran Singh (wk), Jagadeesha Suchith, Tajinder Singh, Hardus Viljoen.
The match starts at 7.30 PM IST.
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India has enough oil stock to weather West Asia crisis; coverage in place for 6-8 weeks
New Delhi (PTI): India holds sufficient crude and fuel inventories to meet domestic demand for petrol, diesel, and other fuels for six to eight weeks, top government sources said, cushioning the country against any short-term supply disruption amid escalating military conflict in West Asia.
About half of India's crude and LPG imports transit the Strait of Hormuz - the key energy chokepoint that has seen disruptions following US and Israeli attacks on Iranian government, military and nuclear facilities. Iran warned shipping away from the strait, and insurers withdrew coverage, effectively halting tanker movements.
A top oil ministry official, who wished not to be named, said the government is monitoring the situation "on a daily and hourly basis" and is confident of navigating through the crisis that by some estimates may last a week or ten days.
While the country has crude oil stocks to last 25 days and fuel to last a similar duration, contingency plans - including using stockpile in strategic petroleum reserves, commercial stocks, and diversified sourcing from the US, Russia, West Africa, and Latin America - will ensure continuity even if the crisis lasts longer.
While immediate shortages are unlikely, rising crude prices and higher freight and insurance costs could impact India's import bill and inflation.
Separately, the ministry in a statement said Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri "briefed the media on the country's preparedness in the current circumstances" and it was informed that "the country is well stocked with crude oil and inventories of key petroleum products including petrol, diesel and ATF to deal with short-term disruptions arising from the Middle East."
It, however, did not give details of the stocks.
"The Ministry has established a 24×7 control room to continuously monitor the supply and stock position of petroleum products across the country," it said.
"At present, the government is reasonably comfortable in terms of stocks. Safeguarding the interests of Indian consumers remains the highest priority. Based on continuous monitoring, the government is cautiously optimistic that phased measures can be taken, if required, to further mitigate the situation."
India is the third largest importer, fourth largest refiner, and fifth largest exporter of petroleum products globally.
"It was further apprised that in the last few years, India has ensured both availability and affordability of energy for its population by diversifying its sources. Indian energy companies now have access to energy supplies that are not routed through the Strait of Hormuz.
"Such cargoes will remain available and help mitigate supplies that may be temporarily affected enroute through the Strait of Hormuz," the statement said.
The official said that while this year crude sourced from the countries that use the Strait of Hormuz is above 50 per cent due to a drop in Russian cargoes, the average over the past couple of years has been 40 per cent. The remaining 60 per cent is not shipped from the Strait.
Crude oil -- the raw material that is turned into fuels like petrol and diesel in refineries -- in storage tanks, pipelines and on ships in transit is enough to meet the country's requirement for 25 days. Besides, there are stock of fuel in refineries, deposits, pipelines and other storage facilities that could meet demand for a similar duration, he said.
On top of this, there is crude oil stored in underground strategic reserves.
The country's commercial crude oil stocks, including strategic petroleum reserves at Mangalore, Padur, and Visakhapatnam, total around 100 million barrels. This, along with additional refined product inventories, provides a substantial buffer against short-term disruptions.
"We are in a reasonably comfortable situation," the official said.
The official said India was looking to import LPG even before the Iran crisis broke out last weekend. An issue with the pipeline in Saudi Arabia, the principal supplier of LPG to India, had created a deficit of 120,000 tonnes.
"There are a large number of producers, and we are tapping them," the official said.
With imports via the Strait of Hormuz averaging roughly 2.5 million barrels per day -- about half of India's just over 5 million bpd total crude imports -- these combined reserves could theoretically cover around 40-45 days of imports in a crude disruption scenario, he said.
Additional refined product inventories would extend effective coverage further.
However, the immediate impact will be on prices. Brent, the global benchmark, crossed USD 80 per barrel, roughly 10 per cent more since the Iran crisis. For India, higher prices means higher import bill.
India spent USD 137 billion on crude oil imports in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2025. During April 2025 to January 2026 - the first ten months of the current fiscal year - it spent USD 100.4 billion on imports of 206.3 million tonnes of crude oil.
The United States and Israel launched military strikes on targets in Iran over the weekend. Tehran retaliated with missiles and drones aimed at Israel and countries hosting US forces, including the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Media reports suggest the conflict has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, a key conduit for global energy flows. Roughly one-third of the world's seaborne crude oil exports and about 20 per cent of liquefied natural gas shipments transit the narrow waterway.
India, the world's third-largest oil importer, imports roughly half of its crude needs through the narrow Strait. Its mainstay liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier in Qatar also uses the strait to ship the fuel to India.
In case of closure, India can tap suppliers in West Africa, Latin Amercia and the US to make up for the shortfall from the Middle-East. India could also tap Russian oil to make up for the deficit.
India had agreed to wind down purchases of Russian oil as part of a trade deal with the US - a deal which now sits in limbo after the US Supreme Court struck down US President Donald Trump's country-based tariffs.
