KXIP are yet to taste any glory in the IPL since its inception in 2008. After coming close and losing to KKR in the 2014 finals, the franchise has finished at the bottom of the table for two consecutive years.
Despite losing 10 of the 14 games in 2016, the franchise released just four players – fewest among all the team – and retained 19. Amongst those who left the team were Mitchell Johnson, Rishi Dhawan, Kyle Abbott and Farhaan Behardein. KXIP, who entered the IPL 2017 players auction with maximum funds among rest of the teams, bought eight players. Their most expensive buy was Tamil Nadu paceman Thangarasu Natarajan (Rs 3 crore). In addition to three other Indian players, the franchise acquired the services of Eoin Morgan, Matt Henry, Martin Guptill, Darren Sammy.