Punjab's bankable support cast

Kings XI Punjab are struggling to put together their first-choice XI. Yuvraj Singh and Brett Lee are doubtful starters for Saturday's game in Mohali. Jerome Taylor is not able to link up with the squad, Yusuf Abdulla recently recovered from injury, and the Australians, Shaun Marsh and James Hopes, are not expected to reach India until next week. Adrian Barath, a new signing this season, is on international duty with West Indies. What's more, the coach Tom Moody will not join Punjab until March 15 in Bangalore.

Despite these setbacks, a very optimistic Kumar Sangakkara, the new Punjab captain, said that his team was "spoilt for choice" and put faith in "a great mix of international and domestic players". So just who are these players on which Punjab will rely come Saturday? Cricinfo takes a look at a few candidates.

Ravi Bopara

Bopara, who was bought for $450,000 at the 2009 auction, is here with the squad after reportedly expressing hesitation to tour India due to security reasons. The squad will hope the England batsman is secure for the duration of his stay, because he's a very handy player. Punjab are without a few key batting options at the moment and Bopara, despite managing just 137 runs at 17.12 and 12 wickets at 20.91 from 11 matches for Auckland in the HRV Cup recently, is going to be vital for their progress.

Mahela Jayawardene

A very under-rated Twenty20 player, Jayawardene will be saddled with more responsibility due to the absence of some key players at this juncture. What's ominous is the form he's in: Jayawardene was brilliant in Sri Lanka's Inter-provincial Twenty20 tournament, scoring 293 runs in six games to help Wayamba retain their title, including 91 off 49 balls in the final.

Mohammad Kaif

Kaif hasn't always looked at ease in Twenty20. Sent home from South Africa by Rajasthan Royals ahead of season two, Kaif found his contract bought out this year before Punjab signed him on. And he could find himself slotting into the playing XI sooner than perhaps expected. A career Twenty20 strike rate of 106.16 is handy, and Kaif's fielding will always be handy. Where exactly Punjab bat him is unsure, but without the services of James Hopes, Simon Katich and Yuvraj, Kaif may find himself slotting up the order. In three domestic Twenty20 matches this season, Kaif has scored 74 runs with a best of 57.

Reetinder Sodhi

Sodhi has silently slipped under the radar in the build-up to IPL 2010, but he could be a key player. Back in the mix of things after cutting ties with the ICL, Sodhi didn't light up the domestic Twenty20 scene recently - just 21 runs and five wickets from five games - but he's a useful player for this format. Plus, there's the massive incentive of making himself be noticed after a fairly low-key last two seasons. With Irfan Pathan not certain to play, Sodhi could find himself in the leading allrounder's role.

Piyush Chawla

Singled out by Sangakkara after the first IPL as the big success story in the spin department, Chawla has become a vital cog in Punjab's wheel. His stock legbreak, googly and sliders yielded him 17 wickets from 15 games in 2008, played largely on pitches not conducive to spin. Chawla combines his bowling with useful batting; in 2008 he won Punjab a game by scoring 20 off one Ishant Sharma over, and one against Deccan Chargers by hitting a six off Scott Styris and then a boundary off RP Singh.