The Kings XI Punjab were one of the best teams in the last season of the IPL. They had the right mix of youth and experience and that saw them beating the Chennai Super Kings in the knock-out stages. It was the performance of their veteran star Virender Sehwag, which changed the completion of that match.
He had sent the CSK bowlers on a leather hunt. But the Kings XI couldn’t come out as a champion side in the IPL final match they had lost to the Kolkata Knight Riders. That match went down to the wire and the Kings lost the battle of nerves.
So, this year, they want to start fresh and go the distance. The Kings have the advantage of having the same set of players who made them the runners-up. The good thing is that this team can also boast of having three members from Australia.
The likes of Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Johnson and George Bailey were key Australian team members. Bailey was Australia’s stand-in-captain during the 2015 World Cup and he knows how to win big tournaments. Then, there are Indian cricketers like Axar Patel, Wriddhiman Saha and Murali Vijay who strengthen the side further.
This team has big hitters and batsmen who are cautious in their approach to make good scores. Even the bowling department has abundance of strength. From what it appears on paper, the Kings actually have the team to win the title.
But they will have to get past consistent sides like the CSK and KKR to realise their big dream. In the league phase, one thing is certain, they are going to give tough competition to all the teams.
