IPL Kings XI Punjab

Apart from the Kolkata Knight Riders, this is the other team that has the Bollywood glam quotient attached with it, in the form of Preity Zinta, one of the co-owners of the team. Apart from that, the Kings XI Punjab team is owned by Ness Wadia, Karan Paul and Dabur-man Mohit Burman. The four of them bought the team rights from IPL for $76 million and the rest of the players for more than $5 million. Apart from the above four, the CEO of the team is one Mr. Neil Maxwell, and the team would be coached by Tom Moody. Yuvraj Singh is the icon player for the Kings XI Punjab, and also will captain the side.

The specialist batting line-up is rather long for the Kings, apart from Yuvraj Singh; there is a Jayawardena, Sarwan, Sangakkara and Katich amongst the well known foreign players. The local players consist of Karan Goel and Uday Kaul, Sahil Kukreja and Under 19 player, Tanmay Srivastava. Irfan Pathan and James Hopes can double up as both, openers or late order hitters of the ball as and when the situation demands, while their bowling could fill in the four over quotas for the fourth and the fifth bowler slots. To round off the squad, Brett Lee and S. Sreesanth would, in all probabilities, open the pace bowling department, to be followed the all rounder in the team. Piyush Chawla is an excellent spin bowling option for the Kings, and if there is no dew on the wicket – and the ground – may come into play as not only a stock bowler, but also a wicket taking option.

This team comes in with many strengths, and very little weaknesses. For starters, theirs is a very young side, and this would give them a huge edge in the field. In fact, most of the players are less than thirty years of age, with the oldest player being Simon Katich at thirty two. Apart from their fielding, the Kings also seem to be a very well balanced side, in terms of their batting. They have Karan Goel, Irfan Pathan, Sahil Kukreja, James Hopes and some of the other local players who could open the innings, and with a strong lineup to follow in Sangakkara, Jayawardena and Yuvraj Singh, their batting looks all set to explode. In Lee and Sreesanth, they have two of the quickest bowlers who could run through the top order, while on pitches that afford even a little help, Piyush Chawla could be more than a handful.

So then with so many good things said, is there a proverbial, chink in their armour? Well, one issue could be their complacency, and that again emanates from the kind of talent and balance on display. Apart from that, Yuvraj Singh is new to the job of captaincy, and hence will have a point to prove to one and all. It is here that his captaincy would be tested.

All in all, I would be gung ho about Kings’ chances in the tournament, and would be very surprised if they do not make it to the semi finals of the tournament.