Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) is one of the rare franchises who is still to lay a claim to the IPL trophy despite dishing out decent performances one after the other. They have managed to rope in the best of players and yet somehow when the time comes for them to perform they fall short, if not by a mile, definitely by a whisker.
The first season of the tournament saw them wreaking havoc after Shaun Marsh went on a run spree and helped them to qualify for the semi-finals before they were trounced by Chennai Super Kings. In 2014, they had their best run when Maxwell went berserk and conjured inhuman stuff, once again to tumble in the finals in front of a superior KKR.
No matter how much they have put in to make amends, they could never cross that finishing line. With Anil Kumble taking over the helm of affairs, they will hope this year to be theirs unless they choose to throw it all away.
We will look at the two strongest and weakest players of KXIP for the upcoming IPL.
KXIP Strongest:
Chris Gayle and Glenn Maxwell
If the Universe Boss gets going, that is very much the end of their opponents, because he can single-handedly destroy any opposition on his given day. KXIP will hope for Gayle to fire big in most of their games as their batting order lacks depth. A good start will help the remaining batsmen to post something challenging on the board.
Maxwell carried Punjab to the finals of 2014 alone and substantiated the destruction he is capable of unleashing upon the bowlers and once he gets insane, it will be like a goodbye to his bowling counterparts. He is also one of the best fielders along the deep.
Weakest :
Ravi Bishnoi and Nicholas Pooran
Ravi Bishnoi will learn a great deal under the chaperonage of Punjab’s head coach, Anil Kumble. He will also have a lot to pick up from India’s best spinner at the moment. After the youngster managed to notch up 17 wickets from just six games in the U-19 World Cup, he is going to have high expectations from him. Honestly, he is good, however, the fact that he is still to face the best, a lot is to be spoken about his character.
Nicholas Pooran is a decent T-20 cricketer but his knocks aren’t exactly savory in the way that their fans would want them to be. He takes time to settle in and even when he does, despite getting off to a flyer, he fails to turn them into big knocks. That is a major concern for this Caribbean hard-hitter.
