Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) is one of the teams which failed to qualify for the playoffs over the last few years under the leadership of Ravichandran Ashwin. However, the team management decided to change their decision before the next season and traded their captain to Delhi Capitals before the auction. They named KL Rahul as the captain for the upcoming edition of the tournament.
They have a few players in their kitty who can turn the table anytime. Moreover, they have bought two key players for the 2020 edition – Glenn Maxwell and Sheldon Cottrell. Both are in great form and will try to maintain that throughout the tournament as well.
Last year, despite having an explosive top order, they lacked in the power-hitting in the middle order. However, they rectified this mistake in this year’s auction as they acquired the services of Maxwell and James Neesham. Both of them are capable of hitting big sixes, along with their bowling in the innings.
Let’s have a look at the best possible combination for the upcoming season.
Openers: KL Rahul (C) and Chris Gayle
KL Rahul has been going through a purple patch in his career. He will open the innings alongside another explosive opener – Chris Gayle in the upcoming IPL season. Both the batsmen are highly experienced in the shortest format of the game. They are capable of providing a flying start to the team right from the beginning. If they are able to give a steady start, middle-orders can bank on them and put up a huge score on the board. So, most of the things depend heavily on their openers at the top of the order.
On the other hand, Chris Gayle’s fitness could be an issue and this will decide how many matches he will play in the tournament. If Gayle is not fit enough at the start, then the team management might ask another flamboyant India opener and the Karnataka batsman Mayank Agrawal to open the innings along with the captain and his Karnataka and India teammate Rahul.
Middle-orders: Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Sarfaraz Khan, James Neesham
If Mayank Agarwal doesn’t open, he will bat at the important number 3 position and try to anchor the innings. His ability to attack the spinners from the start will help the team in the middle order. Along with him, there are Mandeep Singh and Glenn Maxwell. While Mandeep can play the sheet anchor role in this XI, Maxwell can take the onus on his shoulder and play his natural aggressive game and help the team to chase, as well as, to put up a decent score.
Sarfaraz Khan and James Neesham will come in the playing XI. While Sarfaraz Khan has the ability to score at a high pace off pacers and spinners with his unorthodox shots, James Neesham, on the other hand, is a punch hitter who can easily clear any ground with his muscle power.
Bowlers: Krishnappa Gowtham, Mohammed Shami, Sheldon Cottrell, Ishan Porel
One of India’s front runner in pace attack, Mohammad Shami, will lead the KXIP bowling attack in the upcoming season. Along with him, the franchise will get the service of West Indies pacer Sheldon Cottrell and youngster Ishan Porel.
Their home ground, Mohali usually helps pace bowling, so it can be expected that the team management will heavily bank on their pace department. However, they will include one specialist spinner in most of the matches. While we have already seen Cottrell’s ability to take wickets in the powerplay, as well as in the death overs already, it is no surprise that Shami will try to provide with the early breakthroughs to the side. They can bowl in the death overs too.
They will get the service of Krishnappa Gowtham who is a spin bowling all-rounder alongside Maxwell. Neesham will be another pace bowling option for KXIP. On the other hand, Ishan is a promising young talent and this is going to be his debut in IPL. He has the caliber of taking early wickets and he was immensely impressive in India’s U19 World Cup title win in 2018.
Probable Playing XI:
KL Rahul (C), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Mandeep Singh, Glenn Maxwell, Sarfaraz Khan, James Neesham, Krishnappa Gowtham, Mohammed Shami, Sheldon Cottrell, Ishan Porel.
Full Squad of KXIP for IPL 2020:
KL Rahul (C), Chris Gayle, Mayank Agarwal, Karun Nair, Sarfaraz Khan, Mandeep Singh, Sheldon Cottrell, Ishan Porel, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Mujeeb ur Rahman, Arshdeep Singh, Hardus Viljoen, M Ashwin, J Suchith, Harpreet Brar, Darshan Nalkande, Glenn Maxwell, James Neesham, Chris Jordan, Krishnappa Gowtham, Deepak Hooda, Tajinder Singh Dhillon, Nicholas Pooran, Prabhsimran Singh.
