IPL-7 on it’s way, taking a look at Kings XI Punjab

Kings XI Punjab hasn’t been able to achieve anything significant in spite of promising so much. Surprisingly, this year they went ahead and retained only a couple of players David Miller and Manan Vohra. Like always, this year too Kings XI Punjab went for Australian Players. With a new captain in George Bailey and a new coach in Sanjay Bangar the Punjab would be hoping for some change in fortunes. Cricket Tracker brings you detailed preview of this team:

Past Performances in IPL:

The inaugural edition of the IPL is by far considered as the best season for this franchise as they went on to make it to the knock-out stages but their dream run in the tournament came to an end with a comprehensive 9 wicket loss to the CSK. The Punjab team witnessed a roller-coaster ride in their next season and eventually did not qualify for the knock-out stages but what followed after that was a horror run by them as they ended in last position in the 2010 season and on 10^th of October 2010 the franchise agreement of Kings XI was terminated by the IPL committee along with Rajasthan Royals but they were brought back somehow.(also read Top 10 players to watch out for in IPL7)

In 2011, they appointed Adam Gilchrist as their captain but still were not able to make any impact as they finished fifth in the point table. Their bad show continued in the next season also as they ended up on sixth position in the season. In 2013, they were failed to qualify for the play-offs once again but they found new talent of IPL in David Miller as he played one of the innings of the tournament as he smashed 101* off 38 deliveries and that’s the reason they retained him for this edition of IPL.

Season | Place

 2008    –    Semifinal’s

2009    –    Group Stage

2010    –    Group Stage

2011    –    Group Stage

2012    –    Group Stage

2013    –    Group Stage

Strength:The batting with the likes of Sehwag, Miller, Maxwell and Marsh along with skipper Bailey has a slight edge over the bowling where Mitchell Johnson is the biggest star without a doubt.

Weakness:Kings XI has a biggest worry in their spin department as their spin bowling is a little thin with only Murali Karthik and Glenn Maxwell being the spear head in this department and it will be very difficult to survive on Slow UAE pitches without having a quality spin attack.

X Factors:

Glenn Maxwell: Watch out for Million dollar Baby in the IPL 7. This explosive all-rounder is a full package in the field with his brutal hitting and his ability to break partnerships with the ball will prove more than handy for KXIP. So, he will be the key man for KXIP for their road to success.

Virender Sehwag: This experience lad has to come to his grove quickly and his role as an opener to provide quick and solid start would be important for KXIP. Being the aggressive player he is, he can take the game away in a just matter of time.

David Miller: His natural ability to hit boundaries at his will is something that makes him dangerous batsman to bowl to and if he would be able to repeat his performances of 2013 IPL then KXIP are in with a chance to claim the trophy.

Squad:

Mitchell Johnson, George Bailey (c), Glenn Maxwell, Manan Vohra, David Miller, Shaun Marsh, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virender Sehwag, Murali Karthik, Rishi Dhawan, Wriddhiman Saha, Parvinder Awana, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Gurkeerat Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Mandeep Singh, Anureet Singh, Akshar Rajesh Patel, Karanveer Singh, Shardul Thakur, Shivam Sharma, Thisara Perera, Beuran Hendricks.(also get IPL7 fixture here)

Batsman:Virender Sehwag, Manan Vohra, Cheteshwar Pujara, Gurkeerat Singh, George Bailey, Shaun Marsh, David Miller,

All-Rounder:Rishi Dhawan, Mandeep Singh, Karanveer Singh, Akshar Rajesh Patel, Glenn Maxwell, Thisara Perera

Wicket Keeper:Wriddhiman Saha

Bowler:Lakshmipathy Balaji, Parvinder Awana, Sandeep Sharama, Anureet Singh, Murali Karthik, Shivam Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Johnson, Beuran Hendricks.

Cricket Tracker Says: With a star-studded batting line-up and a thin bowling department, KXIP doesn’t have a perfect balance in their team composition. So, their chances to reach even play-offs doesn’t looks too convincing as their star batsmen except Sehwag are not too familiar with spin friendly pitches in UAE and they doesn’t have any big names in their bowling department except Mitchell  Johnson. So, this would be a big reason to worry for the franchise. But you never know, in this format things can change pretty quickly and they may prove me wrong.