Overview

THE KINGS XI PUNJAB have been a beleaguered unit for several reasons. Besides an impressive showing in the inaugural season and in the 2014-where they reached the finals, it's been a pretty dismal decade on the performance front. Although they have always walked in with a heavy purse at the auction, they have never been able to create a winning squad. Worse, even before the player's auction, they rushed in by naming Glenn Maxwell as the skipper. Heading into the auction in Bangalore for the 2017 edition, they roped in Eoin Morgan and Darren Sammy into their scheme of things. Punjab also added Kiwi opener Martin Guptill and seamer Matt Henry into their scheme of things. 

Strength 

There is no doubt that Kings XI's biggest assets are Maxwell, Morgan and Miller. If these three cricketers enjoy a great time with the willow, Punjab will eventually benefit. Furthermore, they will be batting in the middle order and given their firepower, Kings XI will feel comfortable chasing or setting any formidable total. Also, it is highly unlikely that one of the three will be benched. 

Weakness

Unlike the other established franchises, the Kings XI don't have great depth and variety in local talent. From the batting, all-round to bowling department, there is a dearth. While Murali Vijay, W Saha and Manan Vohra can contribute with the bat, their record isn't very impressive. Also, on the bowling front, they will be heavily reliant on the services of Mohit and Sandeep Sharma. Both seamers have done reasonably well in the IPL, but given their limited pace and predictability, they might get exposed too. Also, there is no world class spinner in the Punjab ranks. Having three openers in S Marsh, Guptill and Hashim Amla could end up creating more dilemma for the openers slot. Also, all three are accomplished openers and it would be difficult to ask them to bat elsewhere. While a back up is needed for an untimely injury, roping in three openers doesn't appear logical. 

Captaincy Conundrum 

As mentioned above, Maxwell has been chosen to lead the team and given his inconsistency with the willow and highly temperamental nature, the decision can certainly backfire. The Kings XI are no strangers to creating musical chairs on the captaincy front. As we saw last year, David Miller struggled with leadership and eventually his batting too flopped. Considering Maxwell's history, it would be a huge surprise if the Aussie could shoulder the responsibility. With Sammy and Morgan in the squad, Punjab would do well to handover the captaincy to them. 

TFG Verdict

Although Punjab have some explosive batsmen in Morgan, Miller and Maxwell, the dearth of the local talent and the lack of variety and depth in the bowling attack is likely to expose them once again. We don't see Kings XI making the cut in the 10th edition of the IPL.

TEAM: Murali Vijay, David Miller, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Marcus Stoinis, Hashim Amla, Eoin Morgan, Matt Henry, Martin Guptill, Darren Sammy, Manan Vohra, Akshar Rajesh Patel, Gurkeerat Mann Singh, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Shardul Narendra Thakur, Wriddhiman Saha, Nikhil Shankar Naik, Mohit Sharma, KC Cariappa, Armaan Jaffer, Pardeep Sahu, Swapnil Singh, Thangarasu Natarajan, Varun Aaron, Rahul Tewatia, Rinku Singh.

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