Published: Dec 22, 2016, 03:42 PM (IST)
Edited: Feb 19, 2017, 10:38 PM (IST)
Kings XI Punjab (KXIP) is a team that has seen perhaps the most number of changes since the inaugural edition of Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008. They began their journey impressively by reaching the semi-finals in 2008 but could not continue the same way further, despite having a quality side every season. From nine IPL editions, KXIP have found themselves at the bottom of the table in three seasons — 2010, 2015 and 2016. With another IPL auction nearing, KXIP franchise has started strategising their further moves. All the 8 teams have released and retained certain players from their squad ahead of the IPL 2017 auction in order to strengthen their respective sides.
KXIP made sensible changes. They released four players from their side, three of them were overseas with one getting a high bid. The four released players are Mitchell Johnson (INR 6.5 crore), Rishi Dhawan (INR 3 crore), Kyle Abbott (2.1 crore) and Farhaan Behardien (INR 30 lakh). Johnson, who had the highest bid among the four, has retired from international cricket. And it seemed to be a wise decision to invest in someone who played only 3 games and took 2 wickets with an economy of 9.63 in the previous season of IPL. Arguably, such poor performance is unexpected from a player who was considered among the finest in international cricket. By releasing Johnson, KXIP have hinted that they are likely to heavily spend in the upcoming auction.
Coming to other three released players, letting Behardien go might as well benefit them, given their team composition. He played only three matches in the previous edition and scored a mere 14. Also, it would not be wise to put big amount in overseas players, as every team can play only four overseas players in a match.
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Abbot was another South African, who was released from the KXIP camp. Though he is reputed as an excellent pacer, he failed to impress in the last edition. From five games, he picked only two wickets, and was very expensive too, as he bowled with an economy of 11.06. It was unlikely from an international player who was bought for INR 2.1 crore.
Rishi is the only Indian player who was released. He possessed huge amount of INR 3 Crore. However, he played only two games in the previous season, which is not enough for a player who scored runs at 41 in IPL 8. He was equally good with both bat and ball. Rishi seems to be a potential all-rounder, but it is hard to judge someone’s performance on the basis of only two games.
Retained players
KXIP have done a wise job here, keeping most of the core members of the team. From a lot of retained players, only five players are overseas: David Miller, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Marcus Stoinis and Hashim Amla. Out of these five, Amla and Stoinis were the only new ones to the team in the previous edition. Stoinis did excellently as an all-rounder, while Amla did decently from six games he played. Rest of the 14 retained players are Indians and are promising. Meanwhile, some have already proved their credentials at international level as well.
What next
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KXIP’s next move should be to draft not more than three overseas players in their side, as it will not be wise to have more than eight foreign cricketers in the team. And the most of the focus should be in some good bunch of bowlers, because that is the department where they lacked the most in the last season. Although, they have talented bowlers such as Mohit Sharma, Sandeep Sharma, Anureet Singh and Shardul Thakur. But they need bowlers who can turn the game on its head. They should aim on buying players such as M Ashwin, John Hashtings, Nathu Singh, Morne Morkel and Parvez Rasool. Well, they can also buy back their star captain of IPL 8 George Bailey into their side, who has been released from MS Dhoni’s team.
All in all, KXIP’s aim should be simple and clear in the auction. Yes, they have the heaviest purse left, but they need to spend wisely, and they should go for youngsters in their side without spending a huge amount. They have not gone past the group stage in the last two seasons, and that is something that they will want to change this time around.
Balance Salary Cap: INR 23.5 crore
Total players retained: 19 (including 5 foreigners)
IPL 2016 finish: 8th
Squad: Murali Vijay (c), David Miller, Manan Vohra, Akshar Patel, Glenn Maxwell, Gurkeerat Singh, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Shardul Thakur, Shaun Marsh, Wriddhiman Saha, Nikhil Naik, Mohit Sharma, Marcus Stoinis, KC Cariappa, Armaan Jaffer, Pardeep Sahu, Swapnil Singh, Hashim Amla.
